Eurotopics.net

The British House of Commons is debating a bill that would facilitate assisted dying. Under the draft law, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live who express the wish to die would be able to receive medical assistance once this has been confirmed by two doctors and a court. The parliamentary groups did not instruct MPs on how to vote, but Keir Starmer's Labour government supports the initiative. A similar bill was rejected by Parliament in 2015.

The citizens of the Republic of Moldova have voted by a knife-edge majority of 50.4 percent in favour of writing EU accession into the constitution as an irrevocable goal. The first round of the presidential election, which took place simultaneously, failed to produce a decisive result. Incumbent president Maia Sandu - who claims there is evidence that pro-Russian forces bought votes - faces a run-off vote. Europe's press takes a closer look.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has tasked the incumbent chancellor Karl Nehammer from the second-placed Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) with forming the government despite the fact that the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won the parliamentary elections. According to Van der Bellen, exploratory talks had made it clear that nobody wants to form a coalition with the FPÖ and its leader Herbert Kickl.

Two months after the French parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former EU Commissioner and Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier as his new prime minister. In the run-off election on 7 July, the left-wing alliance NFP received the most votes, while Barnier's conservative Les Républicains came fourth with just 5.4 percent. Europe's press discusses whether his appointment is nonetheless a good decision.