The paper clip, 24 November

Le Soir reports that discussions will continue today within Belgium's five-party ruling coalition on the appointment of a new prime minister. Herman Van Rompuy, the current premier, must leave the post before 1 January, when he will become the first permanent president of the European Council. Wilfried Martens, a former Belgian prime minister, has been appointed by the king to negotiate a deal between the parties. Formal discussions began yesterday. Martens has proposed that Yves Leterme, foreign minister and Van Rompuy's predecessor as premier, should be appointed prime minister. Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza considers the domestic political ramifications of Van Rompuy's departure.

The fallout from last week's EU leaders' summit continues. The Times says that British diplomats are fighting “a rearguard action” to prevent France from taking the portfolio in the European Commission for internal market and financial services.

The UK political establishment begins its third inquiry into the Iraq war today. John Chilcot, a former senior civil servant, will lead the inquiry which will see former prime minister Tony Blair answer questions next year. But lawyers tell the Guardian that the absence of legal experts on the inquiry team means that it will be unable to resolve the central issue of whether the war was legal. Meanwhile, the front page of the Independent asks whether British troops in Iraq broke the Geneva Convention and shows a photograph that claims to show just that. 

Le Monde reports that Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, will be reappointed as chairman of the Eurogroup on 1 December. The Eurogroup brings together finance ministers from all 16 eurozone countries. Sources told the paper that, although Juncker's current mandate runs until the end of 2010, a formal reappointment would be made on 1 December out of respect for the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty. The reappointment could lead to Juncker's term being extended until mid-2012, although sources are conflicted on this point.

A meeting next month of ministers from the 56 members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will show whether the organisation can serve as an effective forum for security questions between Russia and the United States, writes Die Presse.

Environment ministers from the EU's 27 member states who met in Brussels yesterday are already blaming the US for the likely failure of next month's climate change conference in Copenhagen, writes Die Presse.

Spain, which will hold the EU's rotating presidency in the first half of next year, is planning to hold a summit on the Balkans, according to Der Standard. Ángel Miguel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, has said that Kosovo would also be invited even though Spain is one of only five EU member states that does not recognise its independence from Serbia.

El Mundo writes that Spain's governing Socialist party (PSOE) and the opposition Partido Popular have signed a pact to show a united Spain during the country's presidency of the EU, which starts on 1 January. The pact covers areas such as economic recovery, illegal immigration and the protection of Spanish fishermen in the Indian Ocean.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung reviews the arguments for and against a popular initiative to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland. Swiss voters will decide on the proposal next weekend, and it is likely to be rejected.

Silvio Berlusconi has been named rock star of the year by the Italian edition of music magazine Rolling Stone. Every year the magazine gives the award to the personality who has exhibited during the past year the best rock & roll attitude. This year 'Il Cavaliere' got the prize for leading a lifestyle worthy of any rock star. El País writes that editor Carlo Antonelli said that “Rod Stewart, Brian Jones and Keith Richards in their young days were only novices compared to Berlusconi.”

Gazeta Wyborcza writes that Poland expects to spend 16.8 billion zlotys (€4.1bn) in EU structural funds between now and the end of the year.

Slovakia's Pravda writes that the grandson of the late Yugoslav leader Josip Brož Tito is, at least in one way, following in his grandfather's footsteps: he has become the head of the Communist Party (in Serbia).

Mladá fronta Dnes leads its front page with a review of the situation in a Roma-populated housing estate in Litvínov in the north of the Czech Republic. It writes that things have improved dramatically in the year since neo-Nazis clashed with police.

British households could get up to £130 (€144) each year to recycle household rubbish, under plans being drawn up by the opposition Conservative party. The Daily Telegraph has a report.

Le Figaro reports that a German bank manager has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for having transferred money from wealthy customers to other customers who were overdrawn. The ex-banker, aged 62, transferred a total of €7.6 million to prevent customers in difficulty from having their accounts closed. Labelled as a "Robin Hood" figure by the press, the banker carried out a total of 117 transactions between December 2003 and February 2005.