In Italy the situation is not much better, notes La Repubblica: in February 2012 Fiat sales fell by 16.6 percent over February 2011. Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne is meeting with Italian Prime Mario Monti today (March 16) to discuss Fiat's strategy for the coming years.

The Dutch press has reacted with astonishment to the announcement. Trouw headlines “Hardly a nuisance, but banned all the same,” while rival daily De Volkskrant points out that “of the 27,000 Somalians in the Netherlands, only 10% are addicted to khat.”

De Volkskrant argues that the government’s plan to outlaw a stimulant and to classify it as a hard drug is wide of the mark: “Targeted measures would likely have had more effect than a blanket ban,” which runs the risk of contributing to the development of a black market.

NRC Handelsblad adds that-

... the importing of khat into Europe is only legal in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. As a result, Schiphol [airport] and the neighbouring town of Uithoorn have been able to develop as the centre of a European market.

According to the newspaper, “a mistrust of Somalia as a trading partner” also played a role in the decision by the government, which believes that the “revenue generated by the trade is used to finance terrorist activities” in the Horn of Africa.

The Confindustria owned Il Sole strongly condemns Marchionne's "political" move and advocates the need to settle with CGIL – "a 6-million strong social force, stronger than any party". Fiat's hard line on labour reform could endanger social cohesion, "a key asset for Italy's competitiveness. If we have not yet seen out-of-control indignados like elsewhere there must be a reason".

On the other side, Fiat-controlled La Stampa defends Marchionne and warns that bowing to unions' dictates equates to "choosing international irrelevance, to becoming a museum country. Italy must decide if it still wants to play a leading economic role, and it cannot defend collective rights without sacrificing those of the jobless and the young, as is sadly happening"

Anyway it's an "historic moment", according to La Repubblica: "For a century Fiat and Confidustria have been one piece. The first used to choose the second's president. A solid 'strong power' that dictated politics to governments. [...] As it walks away from Confindustria, Fiat seems set for another exit, much more relevant: an exit from Italy" that Marchionne has often threatened after his takeover of US carmaker Chrysler’s majority share. "The firm has chosen to bet everything on Detroit's table, and to deal with domestic competition only by means of production and labour cuts. Divorce is on its way".

Complaints against Google, which claims 90% of the European search engine market, have already been filed with antitrust authorities in Germany and Italy. France is also preparing to open an investigation, Le Figaro reports. "The irony is that the Internet giant is now the target of a Commission inquiry, while Microsoft has buried the hatchet with Brussels," Le Figaro comments. "It would be better for Google if the comparison stopped there. Microsoft was forced to pay €1.68 billion in fines after ten years of legal wrangling over of antitrust accusations."

As Professor Philipp Schröder explains in the columns of the daily, know-how and breaking technologies are taking on a more important role in the Danish economy, and this trend has been reinforced by globalization and the use of the Internet. "Twenty years ago, a German company would never have thought of seeking advice from a Danish engineer.”

Gazeta points out that Berlin’s bailout plan for Opel has been also criticised in Belgium, Spain, and Great Britain, as Germany expects that part of the EUR 4.5 bn bill will be footed by the countries where Opel has its factories, while only the automaker’s German plants will not risk closure. For example, Magna/Sberbank plans to cut down production in Opel’s Zaragossa plant by one third and fire 1,400 workers to save 1,700 jobs in Germany.

According to the economists featured in the columns of Evenimentul Zilei, the new era heralded by these developments will be "a very promising one" for the state, which is thought to be Europe's poorest country. The EU is Moldova's main trading partner, but "Russia and Ukraine also have major interests in the market of the former Soviet republic." Now Romania and the EU will have the opportunity to make Moldova "an interesting destination for investors".

In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, toxicologist Thomas Hartung and chemist Costanza Rovida warn that “toxicologists do not have the appropriate tools – whether high-throughput methods or acceptable alternatives to animal testing – to meet these expectations.” The chemical industry has already “pre-registered” 140,000 substances for analysis.

These comments are particularly ill-timed, less than a week after Liechtenstein signed an agreement with the UK, promising to tighten tax loopholes and bring an estimated £1bn to the British government in unpaid taxes. The Guardian described this as a 'ground-breaking' deal, which could encourage 5,000 Britons to come clean about their savings. Cracking open the tax havens such as those of Liechtenstein and Switzerland were amongst the objectives agreed upon at the G20 summit last April.

"According to officials, the non-implementation of the plan to dredge the Dutch stretch of the river will cost port authorities €70 million a year – and deprive Flanders of an estimated  €1 to €1.3 billion. Every day of delay is resulting in significant losses in revenue to the region, and in the meantime, Antwerp's troubles are boosting business in the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Not surprisingly, some Flemings are outspoken in their criticism of the deadlock, which they suspect may have been caused by lobbying on behalf of the rival port."

Renowned for its ability to break new ground in the field of shipbuilding, the Lindø made the headlines in 2006 when it launched the world's largest container ship, the Emma Mærsk. Owned by the A. P. Møller-Mærsk business empire, the country's largest shipbuilder, a large proportion of the shares in the business are still controlled by 96-year-old Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller – a much loved public figure and philanthropist, who is ranked by Forbes as the world's second richest Dane. According to Børsen, the Lindø, which will cease seeking new contracts and will close its doors in 2012.

Now that he manages both companies, Piëch will have the opportunity to express "his second ego: to develop environmental high-tech that tantalises the consumer," the daily comments. Rumors say that Wendelin Wiedeking, the ousted Porsche CEO, has bought shares in the shoe industry. FAZ sums it up: "From the fast lane to the hiking trail, from fuel injection to sandals: it's like a summer fairy tale in the era of climate change."

Since acquiring a majority stake in VW in 2006, Porsche has been in debt. A merger with VW will bring a much-needed 8 million euro into its treasury. "Once again, the "old man" prevailed," comments the Frankfurter Rundschau. "Ferdinand Piëch [grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and CEO of Volkswagen] is about to succeed in building one of the world's biggest automaking empires. Nevertheless, he has not behaved decently, gradually undermining Wiedeking (the head of Porsche) and harassing him. It is about time this sordid tale came to an end," in the interest of the two famous brands and "German manufacturing", the daily concludes.

Under the terms of a 1975 deal, prompted by a joint plan to build a gas pipeline from Russia, the two companies agreed to refrain from selling gas on each others territories. The deal was not illegal at the time, because state monopolies prevailed in France and Germany, but it remained in force until 2005, long after the deregulation of both markets. Both companies deliberately ignored the European directive stipulating the full liberalisation of the gas market by 2000 to maintain prices at an agreed level. According to the Commissioner, consumers were overcharged for gas, and both companies made excessive profits by preventing competition. The amount of the fines may appear high, but Trouw reports that Eon and GDF-Suez "will have no trouble finding the money." The two companies declared a total of more than eight billion euros in first quarter earnings this year.