Germany's finance ministry is examining the possible consequences of Greece leaving the euro.

TROUBLED eurozone countries like Ireland should be encouraged to lower their corporation tax rates to attract more industry and Germany should be willing to lose some of its business to them, two eminent German economists argue.

It has been reported that Ireland's former European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is still earning up to €132,000 a year as part of the EC's transitional payments scheme.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it plans to increase its stake in charter airline Eurowings to 49% from 24.9% at the start of next month.