Eurotopics.net

Despite the objections of prominent members of the Conservative Party, a government bill in favour of new single market legislation passed its first reading in the House of Commons on Monday with a comfortable majority. The government wants to prevent controls of goods passing between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK provided for in the 2019 agreement. Does this mean a no-deal Brexit is unavoidable?

Many governments have granted themselves special powers in the coronavirus crisis. As the pandemic drags on and autumn threatens to bring new tightened requirements, observers ask: does this exceptional situation justify a concentration of power in the hands of leaders and restrictions on civil rights? Will democracy be the next victim of the pandemic?

While the mass protests continue unabated in Belarus, the country's long-time President Alexander Lukashenka flew to Sochi on Monday to meet with Vladimir Putin. The Russian president received him warmly and agreed to give him a 1.5 billion-dollar loan. The press, however, doesn't see this as a clear profession of solidarity with his beleaguered Belarusian counterpart.

In the French local elections the Green Party won several large cities, including Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. Conservative commentators are irked by the new accents they are setting in politics: the mayor of Bordeaux recently announced that the traditional Christmas tree in the city centre would be abolished for environmental reasons, and his counterpart in Lyon has criticised the Tour de France as a macho event.

In Romania a traffic light system based on the number of coronavirus infections per region has been set up to regulate children's return to school after the holidays: in the green zone lessons take place as normal. In the yellow zone half of the class has in-person lessons while the other half attends online. In the red zone all lessons are online. Commentators say virtual teaching won't work.