Qatar, the third-largest shareholder in Volkswagen, is urging the German carmaker to reduce the influence of its powerful trade unions as it battles to overcome its emissions scandal, a German newspaper reported on Sunday. Bild am Sonntag, without citing sources, said the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) would use a meeting on Sunday with VW Chief Executive Matthias Mueller and other top players in the firm to demand a scaling back of the role of the works council. The QIA, which holds a 17 percent stake in Europe's largest automaker, declined to comment, while a VW spokesman said Mueller's talks in Qatar with the QIA "serve the communication of VW's new leadership with an important partner." The council, whose representatives hold as many seats on the company's 20-member supervisory board as shareholders, has long wielded a great influence at the carmaker and has headed off cost cuts in the past. The emissions scandal has wiped billions off VW's stock market value and Mueller has said the firm will have to make massive cuts to meet a bill which analysts say could top 40 billion euros ($44 billion) for fines, lawsuits and vehicle refits.
