Europe

Project developer HH2E AG is set to file for self-administration after it failed to secure financing for one of Germany’s largest hydrogen projects, Bloomberg News reported. HH2E has been fundraising for its first development project, a hydrogen production plant in the Baltic port of Lubmin. While it said negotiations resulted in final agreements, majority shareholder Foresight Group Holdings Ltd. ultimately decided against providing the necessary financing, HH2E said in a statement. Foresight didn’t comment on its role in the breakdown of financing discussions in a separate statement.

Cash-strapped battery maker Northvolt AB is working on a plan to raise more than 10 billion kronor ($920 million) to continue its operations beyond the immediate horizon, according to its chief executive officer, Bloomberg News reported. “In the long term we need to secure a capitalization of somewhat north of 10 billion kronor in the coming year,” CEO Peter Carlsson told reporters after a seminar in Stockholm on Wednesday.

Cosmetics chain The Body Shop has been declared bankrupt by the court, according to a notification in the Central Insolvency Register, the NL Times reported. In a statement on Facebook, the chain itself speaks of a bankruptcy in the Netherlands. The stores will remain open for the time being, while a bankruptcy administrator investigates whether there are possibilities for a restart. The Body Shop filed for bankruptcy and it was declared by the District Court for Midden-Nederland on Tuesday. The Body Shop is registered in Weesp, which is officially part of Amsterdam.

Germany’s fractious coalition government collapsed on Wednesday, tipping the economically embattled nation into a political crisis and adding uncertainty for Europe as the region grapples with Donald Trump’s election win in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner, chairman of the pro-business Free Democratic Party—the smallest member of his three-way coalition of free-market liberals, social democrats and Greens—because of disagreements over economic policy, a spokesman for Scholz said.

The Bank of England lowered its key interest rate, the first major central bank to move since Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president scrambled the outlook for the global economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The BOE said Thursday it would reduce its key rate to 4.75% from 5%, its second cut in the past three meetings. The bank forecast that inflation will fall to its target in early 2027 after a short-lived rebound over the coming months. The decision was opposed by just one of its nine policymakers.

Sweden’s central bank lowered its key interest rate on Thursday, becoming the first central bank to do so since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president created fresh uncertainties about the global economic outlook, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Riksbank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2.75% and said borrowing costs would likely be lowered again soon as an economic recovery seems elusive.

Norway’s central bank held its key policy rate at 4.5% as a weak krone continues to threaten efforts to bring inflation down, the Wall Street Journal reported. The policy rate has been at 4.5% since December 2023 and has helped to significantly dampen inflation from its peak, but a rapid rise in business costs and the krone’s depreciation will likely restrain further disinflation, Norges Bank said. Forecasts presented at its September meeting indicated a gradual reduction in the policy rate from the first quarter of 2025.

The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the eighth time in a row as inflation remains low and as the economy is making a slow recovery, the Associated Press reported. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point to 4%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point followed on Feb. 8, March 20, May 2, and June 27. Cuts of a quarter of a percentage point came on Aug. 1 and Sept. 25.

Italy's economy minister said on Thursday he was ready to review proposals to raise a tax on cryptocurrency capital gains, after pressure from some lawmakers in his own party to drop the plan, Reuters reported. "I am willing to consider different forms of taxation for people who keep investments in their portfolio," Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said. Under the 2025 budget, to be approved by parliament by end-December, the Treasury intends to hike taxation on capital gains from cryptocurrency such as bitcoin to 42% from 26%.