Eurotopics.net

President Milos Zeman's belated blessing for the coalition of election winners led by Petr Fiala could have been the starting signal for a new era in the Czech Republic now that ex-Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who is suspected of corruption, is gone. But the spirit of optimism seems to have evaporated, and fundamental problems remain in the turmoil of the transition. Commentators call on the new players for more action.

France's parliament plans to pass a law on November 17 aimed at giving better protection to whistleblowers. The EU parliament hearing of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on November 10 and charges by a former nuclear power plant employee accusing energy giant EDF of covering up safety-related incidents have put the issue in the spotlight.

The Dutch-British oil company Royal Dutch Shell plans to move its headquarters from The Hague to London and to change its name to just Shell. One reason is that the Netherlands is unwilling to abolish taxes on dividends. The Dutch government has said it was "unpleasantly surprised" by the move. The nation's papers take very different views on the subject.

After two weeks of negotiations the participants of the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow agreed on a final declaration on Saturday. The document, which was signed by around 200 states, is less stringent than planned as regards the phasing out of coal, so that a compromise could be reached with China and India. In addition, compliance with the requirement to tighten inadequate climate protection plans by the end of 2022 remains voluntary. Europe's press reflects a lot of pessimism and a little optimism.

As of today, around two million people in Austria who are neither vaccinated nor recovered will only be allowed to leave their homes for urgent reasons such as to go shopping or to work. The last stage of the country's five-step Covid restrictions plan has come into effect after the percentage of intensive care beds occupied by Covid patients rose above 30 percent. What to make of this partial lockdown?