On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Robert Schuman Declaration, the Foundation has published the fifth French edition of Robert Schuman's only book: "For Europe". This work is available on the Foundation's site in French, English (1st Edition) and German (2nd Edition). Order it!

46 million Britons are being called to ballot on 6th May next to elect the 650 members of the House of Commons, the Lower Chamber in Parliament. The Conservatives who were for a long time forecast to win are no longer guaranteed an absolute majority in Parliament. The most recent YouGov poll, published in the Sunday Times credits the Tories with 35% of the vote, 28% for the Lib-Dems who are ahead of Labour (27%). Another poll by Com Res, published in the daily, the Independent puts the Conservatives in the lead with 34% of the vote, 29% for the Lib-Dems and 28% for Labour. Just a few days now before the election the question is this: will Labour succeed in retaining power by forming an alliance with the Lib-Dems? Will the prospects of a hung Parliament in which the Lib-Dems would play a key role scare voters and push them to vote Conservative?

5,053 candidates, one quarter of whom are women, representing 27 political parties are standing in the general elections which will take place on 28th and 29th May 2010 in the Czech Republic. The Chamber of Deputies comprises 200 MPs elected for a four year period according to a plurinominal constituency election in which the distribution of votes is made according to the greatest remainder. All parties have to collate a minimum of 5% of the votes cast to be represented in Parliament. Five political parties are represented at present: the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) founded by present President Vaclav Klaus, has 81 MPs; the Social Democratic Party (CSSD) led by former Prime Miniter (2005-2006) Jiri Paroubek, 74 seats; the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) 26 MPs; the Christian Democratic Union-People's Party (KDU-CSL) led by Cyril Svoboda, 13 seats and the Greens (SZ) 6 MPs. Just one month before the election everything is possible: an alliance between the CSSD and the KSCM or a grand coalition allying the CSSD with the ODS.

Robert Schuman Foundation Chairman Jean-Dominique Giuliani has published an editorial on his site entitled "Europe, the Crisis and Spending" in which he explains that the financial crisis is first and foremost one of public debt. In his opinion the only remedy to solve the matter is to call for the responsibility of all economic and social players who have to draw up more economic national budgets together together with more balanced social and retirement systems.

On 7th and 8th May Warsaw will be hosting the 17th Polish-European Talks organised on the initiative of the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation. This year the meeting will provide an opportunity to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. The Robert Schuman Parade will take place on 8th May.

On 6th and 7th May the Konrad Adenauer Foundation is organising a conference in Berlin entitled "European Integration and German Constitutional Identity" which will be attended by European Commissioner Michel Barnier and Robert Schuman Foundation Chairman, Jean-Dominique Giuliani.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Robert Schuman Declaration the European Parliament is organising its Open Day in Brussels on 8th May and in Strasbourg on 9th May. The Robert Schuman Foundation will be presenting a stand with a great wealth of information on Europe for the public in Brussels and in Strasbourg.

From 7th to 28th May the information bureau for France at the European Parliament together with the Robert Schuman Foundation is devoting an exhbition to th 60th anniversary of the Robert Schuman Declaration. Via 18 information sheets the exhibition reviews the life, work and ideas of the Founder Father of Europe. In addition to this the House of Europe is organising "Europe Days" on the esplanade of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris on 7th,8th, 9th May. The Foreign and European Ministry and the European Commission are organising on 8th and 9th May at the Quai d'Orsay, a unique exhibition on 60 years of European construction. Finally on its site Toute l'Europe lists all of the events organised on the 9th May in France and in all of the other EU countries.

As part of the 60th anniversary of the Robert Schuman Declaration, the Robert Schuman Foundation in partnership with the Goethe Institute are organising a debate on 10th May on the theme of the Europe of tomorrow. Joachim Bitterlich (former advisor to Chancellor Helmut Kohl), Jean-Dominique Giuliani (chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation), Christian Lequesne (Director of the Centre for Studies and International Research, Sciences-Po Paris) and François Scheer (Ambassador for France, advisor to the president of the board of AREVA) will take part in the debate that will be moderated by Henri Ménudier (Professor of Paris II).

From 8th to 16th May the Robert Schuman House at Scy-Chazelles is celebrating Europe Week. On 8th May four forums will be organised on the future of Europe. In the afternoon a debate will take place in Metz together with former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. From 9th to 11th May the second series of Study Days will take place at the Robert Schuman House.

On 27th April the index agency Standard & Poor's reduced Portugal's rating expressing its concern with regard to Lisbon's ability to manage its high level of debt. Portuguese Minister Fernando Dos Santos said he was determined to implement the government's austerity plan to reduce the public deficit - a record deficit equal to 9.4% of the GDP whilst the debt totals 126 billion euros. The Portuguese Prime Minister said that his government and the parliamentary opposition were going to work together to foster an accelerated implementation of the budgetary austerity measures to guarantee that the goals to reduce the deficit would be achieved.

Standard & Poor's reduced Spain's long term debt rating on 28th April from AA+ to AA with a negative perspective. The agency explained that the country will experience a long period of low growth with an average rise of the GDP of 0.7% only over the period 2010-2016 instead of a previous forecast at 1%. It is concerned as a result of the worsening budgetary situation. Standard & Poor's will review the negative perspective to stable if the government achieves its fiscal goals in 2010 and 2011 and if growth is higher than forecast.

On 27th April the indexing agency Standard & Poor's reduced the country's rating from "BBB+" to "BB+". The agency justifies this decision due to a new assessment of the "political and budgetary difficulties which the Greek government is facing."

Greece announced on 2nd May that it would be apply austerity measures over three years, in exchange for large scale international aid designed to save Athens from bankruptcy and to avoid the spread of the crisis to other weak countries in the euro area. This austerity plan that includes the suppression of the 13th and 14th month of pay in the civil service and a VAT rise will make new sacrifices necessary for a population that is already suffering greatly. Savings of 30 billion euros are to lead to a reduction in the public deficit below 3% of the GDP by the end of 2014.

Greece is to benefit from a joint rescue EU-IMF plan to a total of 110 billion euros - this is unpredented in the world due to its size - however this is to be done in exchange for a course of treatment in the shape of austerity. An agreement on the payment of the package was agreed on 2nd May in Brussels during a euro area Finance Ministers' meeting. "We decided to activate a support plan for Greece," declared Jean-Claude Juncker.

According to data published by the European Commission on 29th April the European economic sentiment indicator had risen significantly in April and even rose above its long term average again. In the EU the Economic Sentiment Indicator rose by 2.1 points to 101.9 points. The indicator only declined in Greece, Portugal and Slovakia but improved in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The Business Climate Indicator also published by the European Commission recovered +0.23 points in April in comparison with -0.32 in March.

On 27th April the outgoing Vice-President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Lucas Papademos, presented the ECB's annual report 2009 to the economic and monetary committee at the European Parliament. Mr Papademos justified the progressive reduction in non-standard measures established to face the most serious effects of the financial crisis on the part of the ECB. He said that the ECB was pleased in the firming up of the rules in the Stability and Growth Pact as well as the enhancement of economic surveillance. He said that Greece's budgetary balancing measures and the support plan set out by the other EU memberss and the IMF were welcome but Greece and the other countries in the euro area have to make a particular effort to restore investor confidence.

According to figures published on 30th April by the Spanish National Statistics Institute the unemployment rate in Spain rose above the symbolic rate of 20% in the first quarter to lie at 20.05% of the working population. The number of unemployed totalled 4,612 million ie 286,000 more than in the previous quarter and 602,000 more than a year ago. The Spanish unemployment rate has been rising continuously and is the highest in the euro area: it reflects the country's difficulties in recovering growth.

On 29th April the German Federal Agency for Employment announced a decrease in the unemployment rate to 8.5% in March in comparison with 8.1% in April and 8.6% in April 2009. In April 3,406 million Germans were looking for work. In addition to this on 28th April the German Institute for Economic Research (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftforschung DIW) said it believed that Germany's economic performance had improved by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2010. It might grow to 0.7% in the second quarter.

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on 3rd May that it accepted the new Greek marketable debt instruments as a guaratee for its loans whatever the financial indexing, a unique measure that should relieve Greece and the euro area banks. The ECB lifted all conditions relative to loans indexing with regard to Greek marketable debt instruments until further notice which it accepts against the so-called "collateral" loans it said in a press release.

On 29th April the EU established new aviation security rules to simplify, harmonise and improve procedures. These measures come after those adopted in 2002 in the wake of the 11th September terrorist attacks. They intend to do away with the duplication of security checks and introduce joint standards between the various Member States. With regard to passengers the EU wants to negotiate security agreements with third countries via the introduction of a "one-stop" shop. Likewise new material for detecting liquids will be operational in all European airports by April 2013. Finally new measures hope to improve passenger travel, shorten transfer times in airports and reduce costs.

On 28th April the European Commission adopted a communication that defines the European strategy for encouraging the development and eventual widespread use of clean and energy efficient vehicles over the next few years. It delivers on the consensus between Member States and European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani's commitment to move on from short-term recovery measures to a medium-term orientation that strengthens the competitiveness of the European automotive industry by linking it to clean technologies. The strategy also contributes to the Europe 2020 objectives of smart and sustainable growth. It contains an Action Plan composed of concrete and ambitious measures to be implemented by the Commission.

Supporting economic recovery, investing in Europe's youth and in tomorrow's infrastructures are the priorities of the 2011 draft budget that the Commission adopted on 27th April. Out of a total 142.6 billion euros around 64.4 are linked to work associated with economic recovery (+3.4% in comparison with 2010). Moreover loans devoted to leading initiatives in the Europe 2020 strategy (for growth and employment) represent some 57.9 billion euros ie 40% of the budget. In the new budgetary framework established in the Lisbon Treaty, Parliament now has equal power with the Council; the "Budget" Committee at the Parliament was quick to say how pleased it was with the increase in payments but asked for more funding for youth and the environment.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble declared in an interview with the Handelsblatt on 27th April that the German government "would not let Greece down" and is planning to release financial aid rapidly for Athens. In his opinion there was no question of involving private banks in the aid plan. ECB Chair Jean-Claude Trichet, the General Directors of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the WTO, Pascal Lamy travelled to Berlin in 28th April notably to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel who wants to step up the pace in negotiations between the Greek government, the EU and the IMF.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a working meeting on May 1st on the implementation of the European support plan for Greece and the situation of the financial markets. He reviewed the parliamentary procedure to approve the finance law that will enable the establishment in France of a bilateral loan to Greece coordinated by the euro area States, the European Commission and the IMF. He recalled that the euro area Member States' support to the Greek government aimed to put an end to speculation and to guarantee the stability of the euro area. The German and French Heads of State want Europe to enhance surveillance mechanisms in the euro area and complete work notably on the fight against speculation.

On 27th April Romania and Moldova signed a declaration to create a "strategic partnership for the European integration" of Moldova said Romanian President Traian Basescu during a conference with the Moldovan interim President Mihaï Ghimpu. The declaration which aims to deepen bilateral political, economic and cultural cooperation will go hand in hand with "action plans" signed soon by the Prime Ministers of both countries, he added. Both countries also signed a non-reimbursable financial assistance agreement of 100 million euros for Moldova designed for infrastructure and education projects.

On 27th and 28th April Russian President Dmitri Medvedev made a state visit to Denmark. After a press conference on 28th April with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the two leaders published a joint declaration on the establishment of a modernisation partnership. They also signed various agreements with regard to the fight against cross-border crime, the accomplishment of climate projects and energy cooperation. Trade was also at the heart of debate. With regard to the agreement on the gas pipeline Nord Stream that is to cross Danish waters Mr Medvedev said that both parties might take advantage of this since it involves a great amount of technological research and development. Both leaders qualified the visit as 'historic', the first of its kind on the part of a Russian president to Denmark since 1964.

According to Eurostat figures published on 30th April unemployment rates remained unchanged at 10% in the euro area in March as in February. It lay at 9.1% in March 2009. Across the entire EU the unemployment rate lay at 9.6% in March 2010, unchanged in comparison with February. It lay at 8.5% in March 2009. According to Eurostat estimates 23,310 million people were without work in March 2010 in the EU, of whom 15,808 million were in the euro area. In comparison with February 2010 the number of unemployed increased by 123,000 in the EU and by 101,000 in the euro area.

According to a rapid estimate published on 30th April by Eurostat the annual inflation rate in the euro area lay at 1.5% in April 2010. In March the rate was 1.4%.

According to Eurostat data published on 30th April in the fourth quarter of 2009 household saving remained almost stable in comparison with the previous quarter both in the euro area and in the EU whilst household investment rates declined. In the euro area the revenue available to households declined by 0.2%. In the same period the business investment rate dropped in comparison with the previous quarter whilst the share of the profit in added value increased both in the euro area and the EU.

The Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) has published a study by Pierre Verluise entitled "Corruption is still a challenge for EU27. A multiscalar, dynamic study."

The Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels is dedicating an exhibition from 29th April to 20th June to "El Angel Exterminador: A Room for Spanish Contemporary Art". This joint exhibition on Spanish contemporary art presents the creations of 28 Spanish contemporary artists on the theme of experimenting with limits. This exhibition is part of the Spanish Presidency of the EU's cultural activities.

The British Museum of London is dedicating an exhibition to the Italian Renaissance until 25th July. This exhibition entitled "From Fra Angelico to Leonardo: drawings from the Italian Renaissance" brings together the collections of the Museum of Florence and the British Museum. The exhibition presents around 100 drawings by Bellini, Botticelli, Carpaccio, Raphaël, Michael Angelo, Mantegna and Ghirlandaio.