European press review

Europe's papers devote many column inches to the speech given by French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin on his vision of Europe's future.

Meanwhile, a Swiss paper looks at the growing problems caused by HGV traffic crossing its country and a Hungarian paper reports on protests against the EU-Nato summit being held in Budapest.

The gospel according to Jospin

"Europe according to Lionel Jospin" says a front page headline in Paris's Le Figaro above a picture of the French prime minister delivering his speech yesterday on his vision of the future European Union.

"Lionel Jospin spoke out yesterday in favour of a 'federation of nation-states' accompanied by a 'constitution', when he unveiled his plan for Europe, which is similar to that of Jacques Chirac and rejects Gerhard Schroeder's federalist vision," the paper says.

It adds that while Mr Jospin's previous silence on the subject had been interpreted as a lack of enthusiasm on his part for Europe, he denied this, saying: "Because I am not lukewarm on Europe, I don't want a bland Europe."

Le Monde in Paris writes that having waited for so long before outlining his idea of European construction, the prime minister had been suspected of being what it calls "a timid European".

"Although the speech will give rise to many questions and objections, it has removed this particular suspicion," the paper says in an editorial, adding that "Jospin has established himself as a committed European".

The paper sees Mr Jospin's defence of a federation of nation-states as a compromise between the federalists, especially the Germans, and the nationalists, in particular the British.

"This vision will probably seem too 'French' for some of our partners, but it tackles the democratic and social deficit which the EU is suffering from," it concludes.

Harmonious Europe

In an allusion to Johann Sebastian Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier", the front-page headline on Mr Jospin's speech in Liberation says "The well-tempered Europe".

Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza asks whether Lionel Jospin is against an expansion of the EU. In a commentary for the paper, Cornelius Ochmann, Central Europe expert at Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation, says he was "unpleasantly surprised" by Mr Jospin's speech.

He says Mr Jospin doesn't seem to have noticed that the EU is on the verge of expansion and "hardly mentions Central and Eastern Europe".

"Could it be that Jospin is questioning expansion in 2004?" the expert asks.

There are signs that German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer went too far with his vision of a federal Europe and that an "anti-federal French-British alliance is emerging", Mr Ochmann says.

He adds that Mr Jospin's response to the German proposals "means the Franco-German axis is growing weaker".

For Geneva's Le Temps, the French prime minister's speech came as a disappointment for those expecting a powerful response to the German proposals.

It says that the prospect of presidential and general elections next year have "reduced his room for manoeuvre considerably, compared with that of his German partners".

The paper says Mr Jospin is already involved in the presidential race and cannot venture on to the federal ground "without paying the price among voters who are very sensitive about national sovereignty".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the paper goes on, "has made the same calculation ... taking care not to give any specific undertakings before 7 June, the date of his likely re-election".

In Spain, ABC says "Jospin breaks the Franco-German axis in defence of funds and the agricultural policy", while Diario 16 says: "Jospin rejects Schroeder's European model", and El Mundo says: "Jospin proposes to strengthen the EU but rejects the federal structure wanted by Schroeder."

Traffic floods Alpine roads

In an article headlined "Lorries flood the Alps", the Swiss paper La Tribune De Geneve highlights the problem of increasingly heavy traffic on a narrow road, known as the Gothard, which crosses Switzerland.

It says that there are daily traffic jams on it and adds: "Over 20 years, the transport of goods has quadrupled and the Alps have become virtually impassable."

It adds that the problem is worsening. "Normally it takes four hours to cross Switzerland. This year, that time has doubled or even tripled," it says.

The paper says that "globalisation" is at work with companies manufacturing goods where it costs the least then transporting them to where they are sold.

It adds that measures to reduce the traffic have not worked.

"The cost of transport and the taxes introduced by Switzerland are not acting as an obstacle," the paper says.

Death star hits Budapest

With a joint EU-Nato summit about to start in Budapest, the Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag reports on an unauthorized but peaceful protest against Nato and the US missile defence plan.

On Monday afternoon, three Hungarian non-governmental organizations put up a banner on a Budapest bridge showing the Nato symbol and the words "Death Star" in protest against the US plans, the paper reports.

It adds that other demonstrations are planned.

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