Lisbon / AFP Portugal kept its much-needed access to EU financial help after an European Central Bank-approved credit agency maintained its rating of Portuguese debt at investment grade level. Toronto-based DBRS announced it had kept Portugal’s rating at “BBB” level, with a “stable” perspective. “The rating reflects Portugal’s eurozone membership, favourable public debt maturity structure, and reduced vulnerabilities, following …

  Berlin / AFP German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he didn’t understand how Volkswagen bosses could defend their bonuses after a huge emissions-rigging scandal plunged the carmaker into global turmoil, according to an interview with Die Welt published on Sunday. The criticism comes after Volkswagen revealed this week that its top executives would be paid a total of €63.2 …

  Madrid / AFP A wind of change is blowing on Spain’s renewables: companies and investment funds have been on a buying spree, taking advantage of the know-how and growth prospects of a sector still limping out of a crisis. In 2015 “total transactions reached €5 billion ($5.7 billion)”, says Joao Saint-Aubyn, a Madrid-based energy expert at global consultancy Roland Berger. …