The business paper Les Echos is highly criticial of GM's announcement that it will restructure Opel itself: "In the business world there are small injustices and major scandals. General Motors' decision to hold on to Opel belongs firmly in the second category. Although it had promised to unburden itself of Opel, the former number one of the car industry can afford to maintain this subsidiary which is posting heavy losses thanks to dozens of billions of dollars from the US state and taxpayers. Detroit is delighted, but the rest of the car world is incensed. ... For the European car industry it signals a cruel end to this industrial soap opera. The overcapacities that dog all manufacturers will no doubt hardly be reduced by the move. And Opel's market share which was up for grabs is now no longer available." (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » David Barroux

The business daily Il Sole 24 Ore believes that not only economic reasons were behind General Motors' change of tack regarding the sale of Opel: "GM's decision is embarrassing for [German chancellor Angela] Merkel, who in the past few months has resolutely pushed for Opel to be sold to Magna. … At least two other reasons prompted General Motor's unexpected decision: the - still tentative - economic recovery has reminded managers that the sale of Opel would limit GM's international radius of action. … Moreover economic nationalism could have played a role: the public shareholders [of GM] may not have liked the idea of selling technology and know-how to the Russian competition [Russia's Sberbank was to have participated in the planned consortium for buying Opel]." (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Romano Beda

"The changes at Opel are good news for German taxpayers," writes the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the planned sale of the car manufacturer to the Austro-Canadian Magna company: "Even if General Motors will still be dependent on state help from Berlin, its new plan will cost at least one and a half to two billion euros less than anticipated. ... One of the losers of the new situation will be some employees at locations in Germany. For the majority however a secure job in a smaller but financially healthy company is certainly better than an insecure future in a state-subsidised business." (05/11/2009)

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The behaviour of the US company General Motors (GM) has led to deep-seated resentment on the part of German employees, writes the business daily De Tijd, commenting that there is, however, fresh hope for the Opel plant in the Belgian city of Antwerp: "The result of this antipathy is that Berlin has provisionally refused state aid for restructuring Opel. The question arises of how long Berlin can keep up this attitude if GM starts playing off the various European governments vying to maintain their local plants with state aid against each other. For Antwerp this latest development in the Opel saga could prove beneficial. If the German federal and state governments stick to their threat ... the Opel plant in Antwerp could find itself with an important trump in its hand. Because the Flemish government still has 500 million euros in loans and leasing constructions up its sleeve." (05/11/2009)

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The government crisis in Romania continues: the designated prime minister Lucian Croitoru failed to achieve the requisite majority in a parliamentary vote of confidence held on Wednesday. No reason to panic, the daily Adevărul writes: "Many depict the political crisis as a kind of apocalypse for Romania. If you listen to the TV debates you get the impression that the country will come to a complete standstill and we'll all be paralysed until the political crisis is resolved. Nonsense! One of the great advances of the past 20 years is that life continues in the country no matter what's going on in the government or the presidential palace. Romania's problem is that the economy is still not sufficiently uncoupled from politics. … With a stable economy, a predictable financial situation and a long-term formula for fees and taxes the political crisis wouldn't bother anyone and would remain what it really is in Western states: nothing more than a power game." (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Adrian Halpert

The last preconference in the run-up to the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen is currently underway in Barcelona, and the objectives are dwindling to nothing, writes the daily Göteborgs-Posten, commenting that notwithstanding their realism the heads of state must face their responsibilities: "Expectations are quickly being scaled down. On the one hand that bespeaks realism - US President Barack Obama has not yet been able to pass his climate policy through the Senate. ... Nevertheless goals must be achieved in Copenhagen which bind the countries as clearly as possible. ... The world's heads of state bear a responsibility, and they must live up to it." (05/11/2009)

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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that crucifixes in Italian schools contravene religious freedom. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung defends the judgement against criticism from the Italian government and the Vatican: "The religious neutrality of the state is an indispensable legacy of the European Enlightenment in modern, multi-religious societies. The judgement follows the same line as the famous crucifix ruling of the [German] Constitutional Court in 1995. Back then the Catholic Church acted as if this was the end for Western Civilisation. The mere lack of crucifixes is not proof that students and teachers practice tolerance and peaceful diversity." (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Tanjev Schultz

Republican candidates were victorious in gubernatorial elections held on Tuesday in the US states of New Jersey and Virginia. A bitter setback for Democratic US President Barack Obama, writes the liberal daily La Vanguardia: "Unemployment, which is growing despite the improved economic climate, as well as the president's difficulties keeping his electoral promises are all taking their toll. Obama had already made it clear that the change he had promised would neither be easy nor quick in coming. He needs more time. But in politics the time factor always plays on the side of the opposition when solutions are hard to find." (05/11/2009)

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The prime ministers of Croatia and Slovenia, Jadranka Kosor and Borut Pahor, on Wednesday signed an agreement for resolving their border dispute in Stockholm. But in the eyes of the daily Delo this is just a partial victory: "The fact that both presidents travelled to the cold North without strong political backing or support from the experts or their people shows that Stockholm was undoubtedly an important victory, but only a stage victory. … Both heads of government will now begin the battle for votes from the opposition and their people, who are a key factor for the success of the project and also for the political survival of both governments." (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Tanja Starič

In the Netherlands the present climate is so dangerous for immigrants because the Dutch never learned the lessons of their past, historian Geert Mak writes in the daily NRC Handelsblad. He notes that unlike in Germany, in the Netherlands there has been no confrontation with either the genocide in the former Dutch colony of Indonesia or Dutch collaboration with the Nazis: "The situation we have here in the Netherlands, where the presence of minorities is seen as problematic and questioned, is often a prelude to discrimination and sometimes even violence. … Many people seem to be unaware that so-called political correctness is also a form of civility, that certain remarks and campaigns are unacceptable in a democratic constitutional state, and that there is mostly a kind of tacit agreement about this between politicians in civilised countries - as for example in today's Germany, where these lessons have not been forgotten. The Netherlands, on the other hand, seems to have been blinded by its own myth of innocence." (05/11/2009)

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Despite the spread of anti-religious ideas religion has not yet disappeared from political life, writes US philosopher Mark Lilla in the Polish paper Polska: "The first [prejudice] is that there is an eternal feud between church and state, which is why all religious symbols should be banned from public life. The second [prejudice] is even more exotic. … It holds that at some point religion will only be found in religious writings. But both these myths are false. The changes of the 16th and 17th century, with their wars and ideological rejections and the 'end of the existing [world] order' did not bode well for religion. This [anti-religious] way of thinking gained a foothold and was adopted among others by [the philosopher David] Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and an entire army of Enlightenment ideologists. It established itself permanently in 20th century thinking. The past century with its two catastrophes in the shape of National Socialism and communism only reinforced this separation [between church and state]." (05/11/2009)

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On Tuesday the Finnish telecommunications company Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and the forestry company UPM announced they would cut up to 5,800 and 870 jobs respectively. The country is too dependent on Nokia, writes the daily Kaleva: "The Finns haven't been forced to spend a Christmas with such dreary economic prospects for a long time. Nevertheless the bad news from NSN and UPM was anything but a surprise. An early warning was given by Nokia's announcement of its quarterly results, which show a decline in profit of over 900 million euros. Slowly we're getting used to the labour pains in the wood processing industry. ... The Finns look on helplessly as the major companies sink deeper and deeper, and wait with bated breath for their turn to be hit. But things can't go on like this. The country can't be rallied with everyone trembling in fear. Unfortunately, genuinely rapid solutions are rare. But now at the very latest it must be clear to everyone that we must become less dependent on Nokia." (05/11/2009)

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With an eye to the most recent student protests in Austria the daily Der Kurier calls on the government to take a clear stand: "Those in power cannot continue to muddle through on this issue, they must state their position. If they want everyone to be able to study what they want, they will have to cough up the necessary money. Since they don't have it, other tactics are required: limited access (to massively attended subjects) and/or fees (with grants for the needy). The [conservative] Austrian People's Party has no problems with this, but the Social Democratic Party of Austria can't go along with it for ideological reasons. Since [Bruno] Kreisky [Austrian Chancellor from 1970 - 1983] it has stood staunchly for free access to university. That sounds all very well and good, but it's a chimera. Social selection doesn't take place with access to universities, but long beforehand. And fewer workers' children complete their university studies in Austria than in England, where there are fees and other obstacles to entry." (04/11/2009)

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For weeks a discussion has raged in Estonia about the case of a lesbian couple battling for the same rights as married couples. News portal Delfi sides with the couple and calls on gays and lesbians to take courage: "Estonia's few gay activists often compare Estonia with Western countries and criticise the backwardness of our laws and the negative attitude of society regarding homosexuals. But they overlook the fact that gays attain their rights not just by sitting pretty. Gays and lesbians must campaign openly over a lengthy period to attain their rights. … The Estonian gay community lacks a charismatic icon to fight for more tolerance and be a role model for others, encouraging them to also come out. This is necessary if the attitude of Estonian society is to change. Estonia needs a gay star!" (05/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Tiina Kruus

The race is on. Although as a whole more men surf in Greece than women, the numbers are equal for the younger generation. For the daily Ta Nea, Web 2.0 is the reason: "Although women in Greece use the Internet far less than men, they're making up for lost time at breakneck speed. Among young people under 25 there is now no longer any discrepancy between men and women users. A key role ... is played here by the social media now spreading across the Web. Perhaps for the first time the social side of the Internet is developing faster than its purely technical side. Since women are more socially-minded and extroverted than men, they have ample room for expression, communication and broadening their social commitment in the social media, which is bringing far more women into the Internet than men. And this trend will continue." (04/11/2009)

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All available articles from » Giannis Larios