Eurotopics.net

The German financial regulator Bafin has filed a complaint against the payment service provider Wirecard for market manipulation through falsification of its balance sheet. The company's former head was arrested on Monday. Prior to the move Bafin had long protected Wirecard and even filed a report against journalists who made allegations of financial wrongdoing public. Commentators denounce basic deficits in the supervision of the financial sector.

Members of the French Citizens' convention for the climate have presented their recommendations to the government. They want two of the 149 measures to be put to the people in a referendum: the inclusion of environmental protection in the constitution and the introduction of ecocide as a criminal offence. Is this too much or too little direct democracy?

A commission of historians presented the new 'Canon van Nederland' on Monday. The canon summarises Dutch history focusing on 50 historical figures and events and forms the basis for history lessons in schools. The updated canon features more female figures and pays more attention to black resistance against colonialism.

TV channels in Latvia will in future have to show 80 percent of their programmes in the official languages of the EU, while a maximum of 20 percent can be broadcast in Russian. In addition Russian-language channels are to be placed at the end of the menu from now on. With this move the parliament in Riga hopes to curb Russian propaganda. However, observers doubt that the amendment will do much good.

While most of Europe's internal borders are reopening, several EU countries have decided to maintain entry restrictions for travellers from Portugal on the grounds that the infection rate has recently risen to more than 20 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants per week. What does this mean for a country that depends on tourism?

The EU Parliament has once again criticised conflicts of interest in the case of Czech prime minister and multi-billionaire Andrej Babiš. It stresses that his former holding company Agrofert, with which he is still associated today, receives more EU subsidies than any other in the Czech Republic. Anyone who makes political decisions on the allocation of funds should not profit from them as an entrepreneur, it argues. Commentators from the Czech Republic and other countries examine the issue.