As Germany has emerged as the dominant actor in Europe, it has lectured Greece and other debtor nations on the virtues of thrift and lately wagged its finger at countries that balk at receiving a share of refugees from the killing fields of Syria. Its right to lead, based on a narrative of self-sacrifice and obedience to rules, was generally acknowledged, the International New York Times reported. That is one reason the Volkswagen scandal has shaken the country’s very core.

Lufthansa failed in a legal bid to halt a pilot strike planned for today which has resulted in about 1,000 flights being cancelled, as the airline’s dispute with crews escalated, the Irish Times reported. Pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) staged a strike on long-haul routes yesterday and has called another walkout for today on short-haul flights – and it warned there could be more pain to come.

The German unit of bankrupt Dutch engineering services company Imtech is expected to be sold in November, according to Imtech Germany's insolvency administrator, Reuters reported. "The aim is to sign the sales contract for the whole unit or major parts shortly after ordinary insolvency proceedings have been opened in early November," Peter-Alexander Borchardt said. Imtech Germany filed for insolvency on Aug. 6, and the parent company followed suit a week later, capping a long slide that began in 2013 after accounting irregularities were uncovered at its Polish and German operations.

The opening of regular insolvency proceedings on the Walsum Papier magazine paper mill in Germany has been postponed to the start of October, EUWID Pulp and Paper reported. According to information from the administrators' office, the payments of insolvency benefits covered by the German state could have been extended for another month until the end of September. Meanwhile, operations at the 205,000 tpy LWC paper machine PM 10 are running to capacity as the mill's customers continue placing orders with the company, despite it being in preliminary administration.

Creditors have granted the German unit of bankrupt Dutch engineering services company Imtech a credit line worth a "significant" sum in the millions of euros, Imtech Germany's insolvency administrator said on Friday. It is currently unclear whether Imtech Germany will need to draw on the credit line because its liquidity has developed better than expected, Peter Alexander Borchardt said in a statement.

Germany’s parliament ratified a new Greek bailout deal, but a record number of lawmakers in Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc rejected the motion, highlighting the political risks the chancellor is taking in supporting Greece, The Wall Street Journal reported. The “yes” vote in Germany’s Bundestag cleared one of the last hurdles to the rescue, allowing eurozone finance ministers to give final approval for the bailout later on Wednesday.

Frankfurt prosecutors have charged eight current and former Deutsche Bank employees in connection with €220 million in sales tax evasion following a long-running investigation into Europe’s carbon emission certificate market, the Irish Times reported on a Financial Times story. Prosecutors did not identify the bank, but people familiar with the case say the accused are mid-ranking employees of Deutsche Bank, which was raided in 2012 as part of the investigation. Seven of the eight accused are still employed by Deutsche. A court must now decide whether to hear the case.

The insolvency of Royal Imtech's German arm last week was triggered by the parent company's failure to pay the unit 21 million euros ($23 million) it owed, Imtech Deutschland's insolvency administrator said, Reuters reported. Royal Imtech filed for protection from its creditors on Tuesday, five days after the German unit made a similar filing, overwhelmed by accounting fraud in Germany that triggered three years of operating losses and major asset writedowns.

Germany has saved €100 billion since 2010 because its borrowing costs have fallen during Europe’s debt crisis – savings that outweigh the cost of the crisis to the German economy, an economic think tank has reported, the Irish Times reported. Investors have fled instability in the euro zone for the safety of German bonds since 2010, pushing down interest rates on those bonds. Paying less interest has helped the government save more than 3 per cent of gross domestic product, the Halle-based Leibniz institute for economic research said.

Shares in Dutch engineering services firm Imtech tumbled more than 40 percent on Monday after it said it was trying to preserve as much of its remaining business as possible after its Germany subsidiary, its largest, filed for insolvency last week, Reuters reported. Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf, citing an internal Imtech email, said on Monday that the company had instructed employees to halt payments to suppliers and subcontractors. Imtech spokeswoman Dorien Wietsma declined to comment on the report, repeating that "all options are open" for the company.