European press review

The announcement that Prince Charles is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles in April is greeted with enthusiasm in Switzerland.

German papers are unhappy with the federal prosecutor's reasons not to take US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld to court.

And the French education minister is in trouble with secondary school students.

Changing times

The Swiss Tribune de Geneve says Mrs Parker Bowles "always looks as if her clothes were bought in the sales" and "her make-up bag would fit in a thimble" but adds that "this woman who cares little about appearances" gives the impression that she is well aware of the proprieties.

Unlike with the late Diana, the fairy story... does not look set to turn into a media nightmare Tribune de Geneve

"She personifies an England of another age, far-removed from the London jet-set," it says.

It also voices approval for Charles and Camilla's 35-year relationship at a time when "rock stars' love affairs last a couple of weeks".

In a separate article, the paper notes that "unlike with the late Diana, the fairy story... does not look set to turn into a media nightmare".

Also in Switzerland, Le Temps celebrates "the union, not very cool, but so modern and 20th century" of "the young 57-year-old bride and her future husband of 56".

In Britain, the paper says, "there have never been so many who wanted Charles... to leave the crown for his son".

But for other Europeans, "this is all about a couple... marrying late in life after trials, tribulations and divorces... showing that life can begin again at an age old enough to be a grandparent".

The wealth of scandals from the British Royals [now] causes no more than a shrug of the shoulders El Pais

In Spain, El Pais feels the British public's reaction to the news of the forthcoming marriage is "a reflection of how things change with time".

The paper notes that those most directly concerned - the Queen, Princes William and Harry, the prime minister and the head of the Anglican Church - have "expressed their delight, with apparent conviction, about a marriage set to fill a spiritual void, which was also a void in terms of protocol".

In this day and age it is largely irrelevant that Charles should divorce and marry a divorced woman, it says, adding: "The wealth of scandals from the British Royals [now] causes no more than a shrug of the shoulders".

Off the hook

Germany's Berliner Zeitung sees no reason for the refusal of German prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld's role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq.

The paper admits that federal prosecutor Kay Nehm's decision not to follow up a complaint lodged by the US Center for Constitutional Rights is "unsurprising".

The consistency with which the US judicial authorities are limiting prosecutions to the lower military grades is not an example of the application of international law but rather of the arbitrary use of power Berliner Zeitung

The centre was seeking to take advantage of a 2002 German law allowing for the prosecution of human rights abuses and war crimes regardless of where they occur.

But the paper rejects as "unconvincing" the prosecutor's argument that the US authorities have themselves already initiated some prosecutions.

"The consistency with which the US judicial authorities are limiting prosecutions to the lower military grades is not an example of the application of international law but rather of the arbitrary use of power."

Die Tageszeitung accuses the federal prosecutor of "turning the principles of Germany's international criminal code on their head".

The paper argues that the whole point of the code is to investigate and punish crimes committed by "the powerful" because they have nothing to fear at home.

But if you follow prosecutor Kay Nehm's reasoning, it says, then a state unwilling to prosecute such people has an easy way out.

"It merely has to put a few lowly fall guys in the dock, and those really responsible have nothing more to fear," it says.

But it acknowledges that trying Mr Rumsfeld in Germany would be "unthinkable".

"This is why we can only hope that the United States itself will have a rethink on wars and war methods contrary to international law," the paper concludes.

Minister under fire

In France, Liberation reports that tens of thousands of secondary school students took to the streets on Thursday to protest against Education Minister Francois Fillon's planned reform of the 200-year-old Baccalaureat examination.

The trouble is that high-school students are like toothpaste: Once out, you cannot get them back in Liberation

In an editorial, the paper notes the students' argument that introducing a system of continuous assessment in place of some of the written exams, which are identical for all, would discriminate against schools in poorer areas.

The paper is not unsympathetic to Mr Fillon. "It seems that the students' fears caught by surprise a minister convinced he was bringing flexibility to a system whose rigidity has been denounced for decades."

But it adds that the protest movement is growing and quotes an unnamed ministry official as saying: "The trouble is that high-school students are like toothpaste: Once out, you cannot get them back in."

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.