European press review

Tuesday's European papers seize on the ailing UK car-maker MG Rover, the French referendum on the EU Constitution, the Russian president's visit to Germany and the EU embargo on arms sales to China for comment.

'Rover disaster'

Denmark's Berlingske Tidende says "MG and Rover were once among the most distinguished marques in the proud British motor industry.

"Their fall began when they changed direction to making more ordinary cars."

The day Blair disappears - perhaps as a result of Iraq - Brown will take over and Old Labour will have its revenge Dagens Nyheter

But the paper adds that "MG Rover's exit is a sign of good market health, as it shows that car makers who cannot reinvent themselves have to close down".

A commentator in Sweden's Dagens Nyheter, after living in the UK for six months, doubts the crisis can have any significant impact on the outcome of the election.

"Wages, employment, property prices and the quality of public welfare are on the way up. With the exception of the slippery reasoning for the Iraq war, the Labour government seems to have done most things right", the commentator says.

"The UK has been the Western European exception to the rule of high taxes and general welfare. Now the dynamic duo of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown is starting to close the gap", the journalist adds.

"The day Blair disappears - perhaps as a result of Iraq - Brown will take over and Old Labour will have its revenge", the writer concludes.

French referendum worries

France's Le Figaro leads with the findings of the latest opinion poll in the run-up to the 29 May referendum on the European Constitution.

It shows that those intending to vote 'no' have increased their lead by one point to 53%, with the 'yes' camp now standing at 47%.

The growing opposition to the constitutional treaty both on the Left and the Right is "disturbing" news for President Jacques Chirac "as he prepares for Thursday's televised debate", it says.

Mr Chirac does not like facing unsettling questions Le Nouvel Observateur

The broadcast, it notes, "has already sparked off a major polemic, with the 'no' camp complaining... that the head of state will not be confronted by an opponent".

The point is picked up by Le Nouvel Observateur, which criticizes the format of the debate, noting that Mr Chirac will face questions from student audience "and not a single political journalist".

"Whatever the management of (private TV channel) TF1 may claim," the paper says, "the format of the broadcast has been decided, planned and orchestrated by the president's daughter, Claude Chirac."

The daily contrasts this with the attitude of former President Francois Mitterrand, who, despite severe illness, faced the redoubtable leader of the 'no' camp, Phillippe Seguin, in a debate on the Maastricht Treaty just weeks before the vote.

"But Chirac is not Mitterrand". He "does not like facing unsettling questions" and "prefers a risk-free, made-to-measure broadcast", it says.

This is "hardly the best way to convince the hesitant," it concludes.

'Touching bonding'

Germany's Tageszeitung warns that "strategic partnership" announced by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Hanover Fair on Sunday "does not serve Germany's interests in the long run".

Germany's dealings with Russia are based on a mistaken assumption that the Putin regime stands for stability, the daily argues. "But," it adds, "there can be no talk of stability when democracy and legality are trampled underfoot".

The paper detects a note of self-interest in the "touching male bonding" between the two politicians.

(Schroeder's description of Putin) as democrat through and through is currently worth more than all the oil and gas in Siberia Die Tageszeitung

The "political and private sphere are closely intertwined" in Mr Schroeder's case, while for Mr Putin, the chancellor's description of him as a "democrat through and through" are currently "worth more than all the oil and gas in Siberia".

Russia's Izvestiya says while the visit may have boosted the leaders' personal relationship, it did little to benefit the Russian economy.

"First, the friendship of the Russian president and German chancellor got new and clearly visible confirmation. Secondly, it was announced that for the first time foreigners will have access to gas extraction.

"Thirdly, all this did not have any effect on resolving a very topical issue - an early repayment of Russia's foreign debt. Even behind the exceptionally friendly smile of the chancellor the reading was: There will be no concessions."

China dilemma

Back in France, an analyst in Le Monde asks if the EU arms embargo imposed on Beijing in the wake of the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 should be lifted.

"Good sense, China's increasingly manifest assertion of its power in the Asia-Pacific region, considerations of strategic balance and above all the Taiwan question," the paper says, "would encourage a negative answer".

"The Americans see Europe's attitude as strategically irresponsible and dictated by business interests," it notes.

The Europeans, the paper suggests, "must seriously ask themselves which is more important to preserve: the momentum of the thaw in transatlantic relations, or a partnership with Beijing which will probably not suffer anyway if the embargo continues".

It is also "less a question of whether we should arm China", it argues, "than of pondering if, considering its human rights record, it deserves to be 'rewarded' in such a manner".

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