German chancellor Angela Merkel has absolved herself of blame for the eurozone’s north-south split during the debt crisis, saying she has Europe’s best interests at heart when pressing the need to become globally competitive.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s challenger in the German election accused her in a television debate yesterday of crushing southern European countries with austerity, declaring her euro crisis strategy a failure.

Ireland’s corporation tax rate was in the sights of the man most likely to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor when he met Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore in Berlin.

GERMANY’S finance minister has made a blistering attack on Ireland’s low corporate tax rate and accused the country of using EU money to fund unfair competition.

European Union finance ministers criticised British prime minister Tony Blair today for his EU budget plan that would slash overall spending by €24bn and substantially cut aid to the bloc’s newest and poorest members.