While the United States relies on science and industry to make a success of their ecological transformation, Europe favours rules and prohibitions. It must develop incentives if it intends to set a good example, writes Jean-Dominique Giuliani.

On 4 April, the Commission published its 2022 Report on Competition Policy, which details the most important policy and legislative initiatives of the year and the Commission's decisions under EU competition law.

The tenth EU-US Energy Council met on 4 April in Brussels. Both sides stressed the importance of transatlantic coordination on strategic energy issues in the context of the war in Ukraine, and discussed efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.

The European police agency Europol announced on 5 April that it had dismantled one of the world's most notorious hacker platforms, Genesis Market, which was used to sell stolen digital identities, including bank accounts and their logins. The operation involved 17 countries and 119 people were arrested.

On 3 April, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Romania to meet both Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Moldovan President Maia Sandu. He reiterated Western support for a valuable NATO ally in supporting Ukraine and called for Romania's accession to the Schengen area. The visit came a day after German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall announced it was setting up a maintenance and logistics centre in northern Romania to service weapons used in Ukraine.

On 4 April, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, met Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia and Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela in Valletta, with a view to preparing the Spanish Presidency of the Council in the second half of the year. He announced his intention to revive the dialogue for the reunification of Cyprus. He discussed with his counterparts European strategic autonomy, energy and food security, and the need to reform the European electricity market. On 5 April, he met his Italian counterpart, Georgia Meloni, with whom he discussed the war in Ukraine, the climate and migration.

On 8 April, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas announced that she had reached an agreement with two other political parties to form a new coalition government that includes her Reform Party, the Centrist Estonia 200 Party and the Social Democratic Party.

Following her party's defeat in the parliamentary elections on 2 April, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin submitted the resignation of her government to President Sauli Niinistö on 6 April. The government will remain in place to manage current affairs until a new coalition is formed. The day before, Ms Marin had announced that she would step down as the leader of the Social Democratic Party.

Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, presented the 2024-2030 military programming bill (LPM) to the Council of Ministers on 4 April. With a budget of €413 billion, this LPM aims to transform the armed forces with a view to meeting new threats.

On 4 April, the Lithuanian parliament adopted additional restrictive measures aimed at safeguarding the country's national security interests. In particular, the text tightens the conditions for granting visas and residence permits to Russians and Belarusians, reinforces individual controls, and suspends the purchase of real estate on the territory by nationals of both countries.

On 3 April, the 8th Czech-Slovak Council of Ministers was held in Trencin, Slovakia. The Slovak and Czech Prime Ministers, Eduard Heger and Petr Fiala, reiterated the importance of harmony within the European Union and NATO to counter the Russian aggression in Ukraine and to make the sanctions against Russia more effective through mechanisms to prevent their circumvention. The Ministers discussed energy issues, European standards on carbon emissions, which could affect the automotive industry.

On 5 April, the UK government unveiled a plan to simplify post-Brexit customs controls for goods coming from or going to the EU, while maintaining the security of the UK's borders. The reform includes an investment of more than £1 billion to improve customs technology, new "simplified and digitised" export health certificates, tailor-made checks for imported or exported goods and the creation of a one-stop shop.

On 30 March, more than 30 media editors from around the world sent an open letter to the Russian ambassador to the United States condemning the detention of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal journalist accused of espionage by Russia, and demanding his immediate release. On 3 April, 22 directors of major French media joined this initiative and sent an open letter to the Russian ambassador in France demanding the unconditional and immediate release of Evan Gershkovich.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Poland on 5 April. In a speech, he thanked Poland for its solidarity. He signed a letter of intent with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for cooperation on the supply of defence equipment. He met with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, with whom he discussed the further strengthening of the Ukrainian army, the return of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia, Ukraine's membership of the European Union and its Euro-Atlantic integration.

On 4 April, Finland officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, following ratification by the other 30 Allies. Sweden, which applied for membership at the same time as Finland, is awaiting ratification by Hungary and Turkey.

The World Trade Organisation said on 5 April that trade growth would slow to 1.7% in 2023 after rising to 2.7% in 2022, pointing to the effects of the war in Ukraine, high inflation, tighter monetary policy and uncertainty in financial markets.

The IMF published its economic outlook for Switzerland on 4 April. It notes that the Swiss economy is resilient. The IMF expects GDP growth to slow from 2.1% in 2022 to 0.8% in 2023 before recovering to 1.8% in 2024. Inflation is projected at 2.5% for 2023. Among its recommendations, the IMF believes that easing the labour market will be essential to contain inflation and prevent labour shortages from becoming a bottleneck for Switzerland's competitiveness.

Until the 10th of September, the Centro Botin in Santander is holding an exhibition dedicated to Roni Horn, entitled "Hope paralyses me". It was designed by the artist himself, in accordance with the architecture of the museum and its location facing the bay, so as to produce a singular effect on the viewer. Through photographs, drawings and sculptures, the exhibition covers almost three decades of the artist's career.