Eurotopics.net

In response to a legal challenge brought by right-wing conservative MPs, the Constitutional Court in Poland has ruled that abortion on the grounds of severe foetal defects violates the constitution. The ruling further tightens Poland's abortion law, which is already one of the strictest in Europe. According to the media the ruling is the result of political rather than legal considerations.

A no-confidence motion brought by the far-right Vox party against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has failed in the Spanish parliament. In his speech, opposition leader Pablo Casado distanced himself with unprecedented clarity from Vox, the support of which has enabled his conservative Partido Popular (PP) to form a government in several regions of Spain. The country's media applaud Casado's move and discuss the reasons for it.

The EU member states reached an agreement on Wednesday on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy. In future, 20 percent of each EU country's direct payments to farmers must be reserved for organic regulations. The current subusidies system is mainly based on the area cultivated and has been blamed for the decline of small farms and biodiversity. Observers are sceptical about whether this compromise will bring true change.

Pope Francis has spoken out in favour of legally recognised partnerships for homosexual couples: Homosexuals "have a right to a family", he said in an interview for the documentary film Francesco, which premiered on Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. Commentators are at odds over how relevant these words are to Catholic teachings.