The internal politicking in various countries comes under scrutiny as governments begin to act to ratify the European constitution, and one Hungarian paper reflects on how drink drove some to the EU.
In Germany a court ruling curbing access to secret police papers splits the press and more than a few Italian commentators call for a more realistic look at the reasons the Azzurri exited Euro 2004.
European constitution
Spain's El Pais hails Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero's decision to hold a referendum on the European constitution as soon as possible.
The paper believes the prime minister "quite rightly" wants to see Spain in the vanguard of the drive to ratify the constitution and calls on the opposition Popular Party (PP) to co-operate.
It urges the PP to work with the ruling Socialists as it did in drafting the constitution, instead of reiterating charges that the Socialists gave away power in Brussels "in exchange for nothing".
El Pais
In France, Le Monde also warns the opposition Socialist Party against splitting over the constitution.
The paper believes that it is "presidential ambitions" that have led leading Socialist and former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius to reject the constitution's text.
It suggests that Mr Fabius feels his "ambitions" would be better served if he shed his image as "France's Tony Blair" and placed himself on the party's left instead.
This is "a very risky tactical move", the paper warns. The European constitution "is certainly imperfect, but it is an advance", it says. "In denying it, Mr Fabius risks ruining his chances."
Schnapps out of it
In Hungary, Budapest's Nepszabadsag attempts to calm another potential EU row, over the use of the word 'palinka', the Hungarian collective name for varieties of locally distilled schnapps.
Nepszabadsag reports that distillers are accusing the government of "national treason" for allowing Romania to sell its own spirits to the EU using the trademark 'palinka'.
But it points out that Romania included the 'palinka' trademark in its accession negotiations with Brussels "at the prompting of its ethnic Hungarian parliamentarians".
"Unfortunately, palinka cannot be given a Hungarian passport: that's not what the EU is all about," it concludes.
Kohl case
In Germany, the press is divided over a federal court ruling curbing access to files on former Chancellor Helmut Kohl kept by the former East German secret police, the Stasi.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung criticizes the ruling as too restrictive and says it curtails press freedom in a way which violates the constitution.
The paper also argues that the court's decision to grant academics greater access to the papers than journalists is "absurd".
"Behind this is Kohl's opinion, apparently shared by the court, that journalists are by definition dangerous," it says.
Die Tageszeitung also takes issue with the court's ruling that academics may view some files, but must not publish them.
"This suggests a strange understanding of academic work, which depends on openness," the paper says. It adds that journalists and academics might want to consider testing the federal court's line.
Der Tagesspiegel
But Der Tagesspiegel backs the court's decision.
"Chancellors have rights too", the paper argues, saying that public institutions such as the Stasi archives must act in line with the law.
"This is what the court made clear yesterday, no more," it adds.
A commentary in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says the court has merely banned the publication of anything "based on secret service voyeurism".
The paper believes former Chancellor Kohl is right to suspect that many of those interested in his files want to find incriminating material against him, rather than against the Stasi.
Euro 2004 blues
Finally, a handful of Italian commentators give short shrift to the conspiracy theory that Denmark and Sweden colluded to draw their game and knock Italy out of the tournament.
"We all saw it," says a commentary in La Repubblica . "Our elimination was of our own doing, as so often happens."
Il Sole 24 Ore
The paper hopes the setback will finally do away with the myth of Italy as football's "sleeping beauty", who "finally awakens when she reaches the quarter-final stage". Avvenire concurs. Italy's "doom", it says, was "self-inflicted" by a team that made too many mistakes, wasted "endless goal chances", and spent its energies on internal rows.
"It was not our fault - it is never our fault," adds an ironic Il Sole 24 Ore . "It is always fate that prevents the world's best team from winning."
"We choose to forget that since World War II... we have achieved very little indeed to justify a claim to be among the best, never mind to be the best," the paper says.
The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.
