Eurotopics.net

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in the EU on Friday. It is meant to standardise data privacy in the EU and strengthen consumer rights - particularly in regard to US companies. While some commentators see the EU as a pioneer in data privacy, others say the regulation could end up hurting those it is meant to protect.

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella has tasked Giuseppe Conte, a jurist with little experience in politics, with forming a government, freeing the way for the future prime minister to form a cabinet made up of ministers from anti-EU parties the Five Star Movement and the Northern League. Commentators speculate on the impact of this decision for Europe.

154 economists have warned in a joint article against further integration of the Eurozone as proposed by Macron, Juncker and in the Berlin coalition government agreement. They criticise the planned introduction of a European monetary and investment fund and fear that money could be paid to countries that have failed to undertake reforms. Are they right to oppose the reform proposals?

Turkey's central bank has reacted to the drop in the value of the lira by raising key interest rates. The Turkish currency had already lost roughly a quarter of its value since the start of the year when it came under additional pressure on Wednesday morning after Japanese investors divested en masse. What are the factors behind the slump?

Pablo Iglesias, head of the left-wing Spanish party Podemos, is under fire for buying a country house that costs over 600,000 euros for his family. The party's grassroots will now vote on whether he and his wife Irene Montero will be allowed to keep their leading posts in the party. Should a man in Iglesias' position own such a property?