European Press Roundup: Tech's Persistent Gender Imbalance, Ceinex's Expansion Plans and German Discounters' New Russian Rival

In Europe on Tuesday, France suspends its contentious fuel-tax increase following protests, and the European Court of Justice says the U.K. can unilaterally reverse Brexit. The top business story: European officials criticize German carmakers' trip to Washington. Read about the above topics on Dow Jones Newswires or WSJ.com.

In Other Media...

Investors in European tech startups placed 93% of their money in companies with no female founders this year, according to an annual study by venture capitalist group Atomico. The survey found no improvement in this gender imbalance over the past three years despite the increasing prominence of gender diversity as an issue for the tech industry. -Financial Times

Ceinex, the joint Sino-German trading platform launched in 2015, wants to grow substantially over the next few years. The Frankfurt-based exchange -- owned mostly by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse -- wants to attract more investors by boosting its product offerings and engaging more strongly in derivatives. -Handelsblatt

Tesco, the U.K.'s largest grocer, has said a merger of rivals J Sainsbury and Asda--owned by Walmart--shouldn't go ahead unless extensive remedies are provided. While Tesco questioned the rationale of the deal, Sainsbury's and Asda argue that entrants Aldi and Lidl have fundamentally changed the grocery sector. -The Times of London

French luxury-goods company Chanel announces it will no longer use exotic animal skins in its products, paving the way for the rest of luxury sector to follow suit. -Le Figaro.

The Russian discounter Torgservis is entering Germany's crowded discount grocery market with a new chain of stores aimed at undercutting reigning discounters Aldi and Lidl on prices. The Siberian-based company plans to open the first of its discount supermarkets--named Mere--in Leipzig this year before rolling out 100 stores across Germany in an initial expansion wave. -Die Welt

Italy's two deputy prime ministers, Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, have signaled they are willing to scale back the deficit target for their populist government's budget law to 2%, potentially de-escalating a clash with Brussels. -Corriere

The British soccer team Manchester City risks being banned from Europe's Champions League following an investigation into allegations the team manipulated its sponsorship income. The investigation--commissioned by the association UEFA after emails on the team's finances were leaked last month--is on track to end "very soon" and expected to recommend charges against Manchester City. -The Times

Germany's Lidl increased the volume of fruits and vegetables it purchased from Spanish producers this year by 35% to EUR1.94 billion. Lidl now accounts for 10.5% of all fruit and vegetables sales in Spain, making the German discounter Spanish producers' biggest client. -Expansion

Write to Barcelona editors at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2018 07:30 ET (12:30 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.