Europe

More than 300,000 Ryanair passengers have had their travel plans thrown into disarray as a result of a rolling programme of flight cancellations that will hit 2 per cent of all of the airline’s flights between now and the end of October.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary blamed a “messed-up” rostering system and a need to give pilots “lots of holidays over the next four months”. He said the roster issues arose due to a change in the way the airline records flight hours. Under EU rules, pilots can only fly 900 hours a year, and 100 hours in any month.

The EU consumer authorities and the European Commission on September 7 sent a joint letter to the CEO of Volkswagen urging the group to swiftly repair all cars affected by the “dieselgate” scandal, the Commission said, adding this is part of a coordinated action by EU consumer authorities to make sure that the Volkswagen group respects consumer law in the aftermath of the scandal and is proactive towards the consumers concerned.

On Monday, Israel and Switzerland signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at increasing their relations in the financial services sector. The document was signed in Tel Aviv by Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Ueli Maurer, the head of Swiss Confederation Federal Department of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance stated, "Israel and Switzerland have signed a letter of understanding for extensive cooperation in the financial services sector." At the same time, sources said that the Israel Securities Authority was promoting an extension of the dual listing arrangement for Israeli companies to Hong Kong and Singapore.

Experts have made a gloomy prognosis: in 2030, Germany could be missing up to three million skilled workers. And ten years later this figure could rise to 3.3 million, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The study, conducted by swiss research institute Prognos AG on behalf of the Bavarian Industry Association (vbw), predicts Germany will lack millions of skilled workers, technical and medical workers and researchers in the near future.

Switzerland should be reintegrated into the Erasmus+ student exchange programme from the beginning of 2018, and not in 2021 as the government wants, says the Swiss Student Union.

On Monday a petition signed by 10,000 people was lodged with the federal government, demanding that Switzerland resume its negotiations with the EU on the subject so that Swiss students can be reintegrated in the programme by 2018 and to allocate sufficient financial resources to the scheme.

Almost a million EU citizens working in Britain – many of them young, highly qualified and much sought-after by businesses – are either planning to leave the country or have already made up their minds to go as a result of Brexit, a study has found.

A survey of 2,000 EU workers in Britain by KPMG, the professional services firm, found that 55% of those with PhDs and 49% of those with postgraduate degrees were either planning to go or were actively considering it.

If all of those considering departure actually left, it would reduce the UK’s national workforce by 3.1% – almost one million people – said the consultancy firm.

Political uncertainty and what appears to be a "perennial confrontation" between Greece and its international creditors are the main reasons the debt-laden country has been unable to exit its protracted financial crisis, according to a study carried out by Greek lender Eurobank, local newspaper "Kathimerini" (Daily) reported on Thursday.

The study, titled “The Cost of Uncertainty,” highlights the important role credibility plays in the implementation of economic policy, and this, the study says, is not something Greece has enjoyed in recent years.

Amidst almost universal accolades for the Tesla Model S, an environmental minister for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has done the unthinkable. He has returned the Model S he used for official business, claiming it has several drawbacks that make it unsuitable for everyday driving.