Volkswagen’s $15.3 billion settlement for cheating on emissions tests fell short in one key respect: even after the cars are recalled and repaired they won’t be fully compliant with clean-air laws. VW’s oldest 2-liter diesels covered by the case will emit more pollution than allowed under the emissions standards. Source: Bloomberg
he European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that an agreement that allows thousands of companies — from tech giants to small financial firms — to transfer data to the United States is invalid because the American government can snoop on people’s data. Source ABC
Tens of thousands of Bulgarians kept protesting for the fifth day in a row on July 13, demanding the immediate resignation of the government and the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev, accusing them of widespread corruption and shielding the interests of alleged criminals who, they claim, control the state authorities Source BNE
Nord Stream 2 expects regulators to decide by May whether its contested natural gas pipeline linking Germany to Russia will be able to operate as planned. Already suffering U.S. sanctions, the project led by Gazprom PJSC is pinning its hopes on German regulator Bundesnetzagentur to help it clear hurdles erected by European Union competition authorities. So-called unbundling rules rolled out by the trade bloc last year require the owners of gas and those who deliver it by pipeline or ship to be separate legal entities, even the fuel comes from outside the EU. Source: Bloomberg
