European Union

The EU Commission plans to tackle the plastic waste problem. Disposable products like plastic tableware, straws and cotton buds for which alternatives out of other materials exist are to be banned. Manufacturers of plastic products are also to be made to pay for their disposal and new subsidies will be introduced for recycling. This is a good initiative but it doesn't go far enough, according to press commentaries.

In the wake of the Irish Yes to liberalising the country's strict abortion laws, calls have been heard in Northern Ireland and Malta for abortion bans to be lifted there as well. Discussion on the emotionally charged issue continues in these countries and beyond.

It started as an environmental initiative - but at the end of May 2013 it turned into a nationwide wave of protests against Erdoğan's government. Less than a month before the snap elections in Turkey some observers say the spirit of those times is making a comeback. How do Turkish media see the situation?

A young man from Mali saved a child from falling from the fourth floor of a Paris building with a spectacular climb. President Macron now wants to reward the undocumented immigrant for his brave act by granting him French citizenship. Commentators question whether this gesture would be fair.

In the Czech Republic the grades of this year's school leavers are worse than ever before. In Czech and maths in particular, many failed the exam altogether. Commentators express concern for the state of the education system as a whole, noting that a negative trend has been noticeable for years.

Reducing ammonia emissions from agriculture is a crucial issue in Europe. What practical measures could be put in place to support sustainable European farming?

Almost one in five working age Romanians (19.7%) lived in another EU country in 2017, new Eurostat figures show. Second largest shares were recorded in Lithuania (15.0%), Croatia (14.0%), Portugal (13.9%), Latvia (12.9%) and Bulgaria (12.5%). Germans were the least mobile Europeans, with only 1 percent living abroad followed by the UK (1.1%), Sweden and France (both on 1.3%).

On Tuesday in Strasbourg, the inaugural prize for journalists and whistleblowers in honour of Daphne Caruana Galizia will be awarded. Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb attack in 2017, after exposing corruption in Malta.