European press review

The funeral of Dr David Kelly - the weapons expert who apparently committed suicide after voicing misgivings over the British Government's presentation of the case for war against Iraq - prompts reflection on the potential impact on Tony Blair's future.

Two huge companies - France's Alstom and America's Microsoft - also find themselves under the spotlight in the European press, and Germany's latest jobless figures give cause for concern.

The wages of spin

Dr David Kelly, the British scientist whose apparent suicide brought tragedy into the row over the government's Iraq dossier, was laid to rest on Wednesday - only days after a further row triggered by remarks made to journalists by Mr Blair's spokesman, Tom Kelly.

The Swiss paper Le Temps says that the spokesman's likening of Dr Kelly to Walter Mitty, the daydreaming fantasist created by the American author James Thurber, has "dealt a new blow to Tony Blair's already dented popularity".

Why are the pragmatic British losing confidence in a prime minister who, when all is said and done, has not done at all badly? Le Monde, France

The prime minister, the paper says, "will face an extremely difficult political situation" when he returns from his summer break.

Le Temps is of the opinion that the findings of the Hutton inquiry into the circumstances of Dr Kelly's death will "determine the future" of the Blair government.

"Why are the pragmatic British losing confidence in a prime minister who, when all is said and done, has not done at all badly?" asks the leading French daily Le Monde.

The answer, the paper believes, is that Tony Blair is suffering "the full blast" of a public reaction against "his policy of 'spin'".

"The best illustration of the limitations of this method is the likely departure of Alastair Campbell, one of Mr Blair's oldest and most heeded advisers," Le Monde says.

Mr Blair will have no choice but to let Mr Campbell go, "because the prime minister's political survival depends on regaining the confidence of a section of the public... who make no effort to conceal their disillusionment".

Ailing Alstom

Also on Wednesday, the European Commission warned the French Government that its proposed rescue of the crippled heavy engineering group Alstom could run counter to EU regulations on competition and state aid.

As the French paper Le Figaro puts it, the EC "reminded Paris of its duties".

The reminder, the paper explains, was to the effect that Brussels will only approve the rescue bid if Alstom "makes sacrifices" and "reduces to a minimum the state aid component" of the bail-out.

According to Le Figaro, French Economy Minister Francis Mer rejects any suggestions that the move might infringe the EU's rules on competition.

Mr Mer was quoted as saying that the rescue was not at all "about ideology" but rather a "question of pragmatism".

There was no question of a "nationalisation of a loss-maker nor of industrial interventionism", he insisted.

Curbing Microsoft

The American software giant Microsoft has also fallen foul of the European Commission, which on Wednesday concluded that it was continuing to abuse its domination of the market.

The present domination of the sector by American companies is based on inadmissible practices El Periodico, Spain

Austria's Der Standard applauds the line taken by the EC, pointing out that the demands it has placed on the company were intended to "incentivate competition without barring Microsoft from future markets".

Spain's El Periodico, on the other hand, feels that the Commission's conclusions come a bit late in the day, considering that Microsoft "already dominates the software market".

However, the paper believes that the presentation of "decisive evidence showing that the present domination of the sector by American companies is based on inadmissible practices" will be "valuable in the medium term future".

Its fellow Catalonian La Vanguardia looks at both the Alstom and Microsoft cases in tandem. A decision will have to be reached as to whether the "partial nationalization" of Alstom amounts to a "legal provision of state aid", the paper says.

As for Microsoft, it will have to be established whether the company's "monopolistic practices" are "harmful to the interests of other companies and/or the consumers".

"There is no doubt whatsoever," La Vanguardia concludes, "that these two cases are as complex as they are fascinating."

Facing facts

Berlin's Die Welt fears that official figures pointing to only a small rise in unemployment in Germany last month paint an overly optimistic picture.

According to seasonally adjusted figures, the jobless total rose by only 7,000, even though the economy is still, as the paper puts it, "dragging along on the brink of recession".

It warns that an increase in employment would require an economic growth rate above the 2% mark, yet "at the moment, there are no indications of such strong growth".

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