Europe

The Airbus military transport plane A400M took off for its maiden flight on Friday in Seville, Spain. But the project is now €5 billion over budget and EADS would like European governments to help cover the shortfall, Spiegel Online reported. Airbus parent EADS is hoping that the governments of seven European countries, which have ordered 180 of the gigantic, military transport aircrafts, will agree to renegotiate the original contract -- one which placed the burden of budget overruns squarely on the shoulders of Airbus.

Dutch shareholders association VEB and Dutch insurer ASR Nederland said on Friday they had requested a Dutch court to order an inquiry into company policy at bankrupt Dutch brokerage Van der Moolen Holding, Reuters reported. Van der Moolen, one of the most prominent names on Wall Street in the 1980s and 1990s, sought creditor protection in August due to a "very weak" liquidity position and was declared bankrupt in September.

GM Europe's new business plan for restructuring is likely to be delayed to January instead of December as previously planned, GM Europe President Nick Reilly said on his blog Thursday. Reilly said constructive talks continue with employee representatives and other officials but more work needs to be done to put a plan in place for restructuring Opel and Vauxhall, and consultations shouldn't be rushed, Dow Jones reported.

President Nicolas Sarkozy is to follow Britain’s lead and impose a one-off tax on bonus pay-outs by banks operating in France. The French government intends to include the 50 per cent tax in the budget bill going through parliament. It will be levied on bonuses above €27,000 and will be paid by the banks, bringing Paris in line with London. France and the UK want similar one-off taxes to be adopted across the European Union.

As economic indicators have improved, concern about the financial crisis has abated. But the next big problem could be approaching. Greece's public deficit is skyrocketing and the country may become insolvent. The effect on Europe's common currency could be dire, Spiegel Online reported. Greece has already accumulated a mountain of debt that will be difficult if not impossible to pay off. The government has borrowed more than 110 percent of the country's economic output over the years, and if investors lose confidence in the bonds, a meltdown could happen as early as next year.

Germany's biggest aluminium smelter plant, owned by Norway's Norsk Hydro, is facing immediate shutdown due to high environmental costs, a German daily said on Tuesday. The Rheinwerk plant in Neuss will have to close down immediately if the metal industries do not receive aid in the coming days, Die Welt newspaper cited Martin Kneer, managing director of the German Metal Federation WVM, as saying in an e-mail to the German Chancellor's Office. A spokesman for WVM told the newspaper other aluminium and zinc smelter plants are facing the same risk of being shut down.

The restructuring plan for General Motors Co.'s European operations is mostly in place, Nick Reilly, president of GM Europe, said on a conference call Saturday. There will be about 8,300 job cuts in Europe, Reilly said, confirming an estimate in a document seen by Dow Jones Newswires Friday. Reilly repeated his optimism that governments in the European countries affected by restructuring would come through with financial aid.

Fears that Greece faces imminent bankruptcy are unfounded but the country must take "harsh" measures to shore up its economy, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported. Greece's widening public deficit and a huge official debt has unsettled European market watchers, particularly regarding the standing of Greek government debt bonds. The concern intensified after the recent debt crisis in Dubai.

Aidan Birkett, the man charged with sorting out Dubai World's $26 billion debt pile, could face an uphill struggle to restructure the company that's at the heart of the emirate's financial crisis, Dow Jones reported. Birkett, 56, managing director of Deloitte's corporate finance department, was parachuted in last month as chief restructuring officer of Dubai World. He has little time to work his magic, with creditors already baying for blood as the maturity of a $3.52 billion sukuk, or Islamic bond, issued by Dubai World's real-estate unit Nakheel approaches on Dec. 14.

Rusal, the largest aluminum producer in the world, which is struggling under $16.7 billion in debt, has agreed with about 70 banks to restructure its loans and begin repayments when earnings improve, the company said Thursday, The New York Times/em> reported. The deal, apparently on lenient terms for Rusal and its owner, the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, also clears the way for Rusal to take the next step back from the brink of bankruptcy: selling 10 percent of the company in an initial public offering this month.