Germany and the Netherlands have proposed a package of 10 measures that the European Union could use to curb gas prices and avoid fuel rationing, including looking into setting a new benchmark price for liquefied natural gas. The plan, seen by Reuters and shared with other EU countries before the bloc's energy ministers meet on Wednesday, calls for the EU to kickstart joint gas buying, to avoid one country outbidding another and driving prices higher.

Germany is coming around to backing the idea of joint EU debt issuance to help cushion the blow of the energy crisis, as long as the freshly raised money is disbursed to struggling member states as loans, not grants, Bloomberg News reported. The change in the position follows criticism from other leaders that Germany’s €200 billion national aid plan could trigger economic imbalances in the bloc. The EU’s pandemic-era SURE program — which offers employment support of as much as €100 billion in the form of loans — could provide a blueprint for a new debt-backed instrument, we’ve been told.

Germany has hired a number of investment banks for a new syndicated 30-year bond sale on Monday, according to memos from two lead managers seen by Reuters. The bond, due 15 August 2053, will carry a coupon of 1.8% and "will be launched and priced in the near future, subject to market conditions," the memos said, a phrase debt management offices usually use a day before a sale. Germany hired Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan for the sale, the memos said. Read more.

The German Cabinet on Wednesday approved plans to loosen insolvency rules until the end of next year in the face of exploding energy and raw material prices, Reuters reported. The planned easing of the law, which must be put to parliament, applies to the obligation to file for insolvency in the case of over-indebtedness. Companies are to be exempt from this if they can prove that their business is financed for the next four months rather than the current 12-month requirement.

The majority of funds made available as part of the European Union's pandemic recovery fund have not yet been disbursed, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday when asked about the possibility of further joint debt to address the energy crisis, Reuters reported. "These funds have overwhelmingly not been spent yet," Scholz said after a meeting with the Dutch prime minister in Berlin, adding that this support could be "particularly effective" now that a second crisis has followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Germany is ready to discuss measures that could contain gas and power prices in the European Union, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. "We need to tackle this problem at its roots.

Poland’s foreign minister on Monday signed an official note to Germany requesting the payment of about $1.3 trillion in reparations for the damage incurred by occupying Nazi Germans during World War II, the Associated Press reported. Zbigniew Rau said the note will be handed to Germany’s Foreign Ministry. The signing comes on the eve of Rau’s meeting in Warsaw with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who will attend a security conference.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE won the dismissal of lawsuits from hedge funds seeking about 5.4 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in damages they say they incurred during Porsche’s failed takeover of Volkswagen AG more than a decade ago, Bloomberg News reported. Institutional investors and private shareholders had pursued Porsche for compensation for losses they suffered in the trading of Volkswagen stock.

Germany on Thursday unveiled a wide-ranging price cap on energy in response to growing concerns among German businesses that a wave of insolvencies could wash over the country and disrupt the supply chains serving Germany’s largest industrial sectors, the Wall Street Journal reported. The government said that it would cap the prices of electricity and natural gas as part of a fourth package of measures aimed at shielding businesses and consumers from soaring energy prices following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Germany is drawing up plans to cap the price of electricity and gas that could be rolled out in the coming weeks, according to government officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. The caps would be aimed at shielding consumers and businesses from further increases in energy prices triggered by the economic war between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. German officials said Berlin would move ahead with an electricity-price cap if the European Union failed to agree on such a mechanism for the entire bloc.