German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the world renown of German beer in Ingolstadt, at a celebration marking the 500th anniversary of the beer purity law. The age-old rule has remained a staple of beer production. Hundreds of brewers from Germany and other European countries attended the celebration in Bavaria on Friday, with servers and guards in traditional costumes.
For 500 years Germany’s famous Beer Purity Law has been protecting the country’s beer drinkers from contaminants, chemicals and any other additives that unsavory merchants might have thought of adding. But the law, or Reinheitsgebot, which marked its 500th anniversary last Friday, has been unable to protect the country’s 1,350 brewers and the proud industry from a modern plague: health consciousness.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi brushed off German criticism of his ultra-loose monetary policy on Thursday and vowed to use all the tools at his disposal for “as long as needed.” He said the ECB's policy was working, which helped boost the Euro.
Germany’s federal anti-trust office has approved plans to stop any single buyer from winning all the live television rights for Bundesliga soccer matches for the four seasons starting in 2017.
A European Union official threatened to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people who want to hide money.
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a widely respected German elder statesman who helped break down international resistance to the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany, died on Thursday at his home near Bonn. He was 89. His office confirmed the death, saying he had been stricken by heart failure. Bonn was West Germany’s capital during the Cold War.
Time magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its person of the year for 2015, hailing her leadership during debt and refugee crises that threatened to tear the European Union apart. In power for a decade at the helm of Europe's biggest economy, the world's most powerful woman beat runners-up, the leader of the Islamic State extremist group and Donald Trump as Time's dominant personality of the year.
Helmut Schmidt, who served as West German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, has died aged 96, his office says. Mr. Schmidt, who was a Social Democrat, was an architect of the European Monetary System, which linked EU currencies and helped pave the way to the euro. He also helped to consolidate Germany's post-war economic boom.
The global economy faces a financial bubble from central banks pumping cash into economies, Germany's finance minister has warned. The comments come after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would extend its stimulus program if needed.
Germany said it could take half a million refugees annually over several years as Greek islands struggled on Tuesday to process a huge backlog of migrants desperate to travel to western Europe. Reflecting deepening concern, the European Union's president warned the EU faced a years-long refugee crisis, while the UN urged countries worldwide to help tackle the problem.