Eurotopics.net

A growing number of companies are using the last Friday in November to lure customers with attractive deals under the Black Friday slogan. The idea is to kick off the Christmas season with a US-style shopping spree. For commentators, the discount day highlights how our society indiscriminately indulges in consumption. But they also point out that for some it's easier to forego the bargains than for others.

Under the "climate emergency" declared by the European Parliament after a vote passed by an overwhelming majority the EU Commission and the member states must in future assess all their decisions in terms of their impact on the climate and the environment. Individual cities and states had already passed similar resolutions. Journalists are not very impressed.

China is the world's largest diplomatic power, according to the Australian Lowy Institute's Global Diplomacy Index 2019. Europe is increasingly feeling Beijing's growing economic and geopolitical clout, among other things due to Beijing's Belt and Road initiative. How should the EU respond?

In the run-up to the Nato summit next week in London, French President Macron and Nato Secretary General Stoltenberg met on Thursday for talks at the Elysée Palace. During the meeting Macron reiterated his criticism of the Alliance. Commentators also call for a debate on the organisation's future.

The ten-year gas contract between Russia and Ukraine expires at the end of the year. Currently both countries are negotiating new contracts for the supply and transit of gas to the EU. The process revolves around bilateral claims running into the billions as well as the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2, which will render transit via Ukraine to Northern Europe obsolete. How can the tensions be resolved?