Eurotopics.net

Eleven European countries have been deprived of taxes to the tune of 55.2 billion euros due to dividend-stripping schemes. The scale of this kind of deal in which packages of shares are unlawfully shoved back and forth in order to gain dividends is far greater than previously known. For commentators it's clear who will pay the price.

Canada has become the first industrialised country in the world to completely legalise cannabis. The new law means that marijuana and hashish can be consumed for recreational as well as medicinal purposes. Some see the step as an important experiment, others see it as an admission that policies aimed at controlling drug consumption have failed.

In Hungary a law came into force this week that bans homeless people from living on the street. The ban will affect around 30,000 people who don't have their own home and who now face prison sentences if they are caught living on the streets after several warnings by the police. Some commentators see the law as inhumane; others defend it.

The French government is drawing up legislation under which car drivers would have to pay a toll for driving into city centres in a bid to fight air pollution. A toll of at least 2.50 euros would be imposed in cities with more than 100,000 residents. France's media focus on the social aspects of this step.