Eurotopics.net

Entrepreneur Richard Branson flew into space on July 11 in a self-financed rocket-powered spaceplane, beating Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who had announced his space flight for July 20. Both plan to offer commercial trips into space in the future, while Elon Musk also runs a space company. Most commentators find this race strange and out of touch with the times.

The row over Poland's judicial reform is heating up: this morning, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the Disciplinary Chamber at the Supreme Court violates EU law. For its part the Polish Constitutional Tribunal was due to decide today whether European law is compatible with the Polish constitution, but has now postponed the ruling without further explanation. If it decides that the constitution takes precedence over EU law, observers say there can only be one conclusion.

First Italy, and now France and Greece are also introducing compulsory Covid vaccination in the health and care sectors. French President Emmanuel Macron is giving workers until mid-September to be vaccinated, after which controls will be introduced. While some commentators speak out strongly for or against compulsory vaccination, others say it may not even be feasible in the health sector.