Eurotopics.net

In his last State of the Union Address, Jean-Claude Juncker has appealed to the EU's sense of self-confidence. Europe must "become a more sovereign actor on the world stage" and take its future into its own hands, the EU Commission president stressed. Hardly a stirring speech, nevertheless Juncker has kicked off the European elections in the right way, commentators believe.

The EU Parliament has voted by the necessary two-thirds majority in favour of opening a punishment procedure against Hungary for breaching the EU's core principles. The member states must now decide which sanctions should be imposed. Some commentators see the vote as a symbolic decision. Others believe that Hungary's government has only apparently suffered a defeat.

The EU Parliament has decided in favour of a new intellectual property law aimed at strengthening the rights of publishers, artists and journalists. Internet platforms must prevent content protected by copyright from being put online. The reform will be put to vote in the member states next spring. How useful are the new regulations?

In the wake of the far-right riots in Chemnitz, prominent politicians and the head of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution are under fire for trivialising the scale of the violence. They are playing into the hands of the extremists, some commentators lament. Others stress that nationalism also feeds on legitimate demands.

One week ago Scotland Yard named and posted photos of two suspects in the Skripal case. Now President Putin has let it be known that while the men have been found, they are not Russian agents, have done nothing wrong and will make their own statements on the affair. The president's reaction only reinforces suspicions, Russian opposition media argue.