Eurotopics.net

For the first time in its history the EU has rejected the draft budget of a member state. Italy's plan violates the stability criteria, the EU Commission's vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said. The government in Rome defended the budget which it has now been ordered to revise within three weeks. Is Brussels' hard line against a member state justifiable?

For the first time researchers have detected plastic particles in human stool. The theory now is that there are no more plastic-free areas on the planet. Today, Wednesday, the EU Parliament will vote on banning throwaway plastic products such as straws, cotton buds, cutlery and bags. But commentators doubt this would have the desired effect.

A video posted on Snapchat showing a high school student holding a pistol to his teacher's head has caused an outcry on Twitter. Under the hashtag PasDeVague (Don't Make Waves) teachers are posting their experiences with school violence. How serious is the problem and what are its causes?

Another Czech soldier was killed in Afghanistan on Monday, the fourteenth casualty the Czech army has suffered during this mission. Should the country withdraw its troops?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned in its Special Report on Global Warming that the world is heating up faster than previously believed and with more drastic consequences. But the panel claims it is still "technically and economically possible" to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Commentators look at what needs to be done to achieve that goal.