The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Rennes and the Association Europe (Rennes 35) together with the Robert Schuman Foundation are organising a series of conferences entitled "Rendez-Vous d'Europe". For its 8th edition the Rendez-Vous d'Europe is devoting this year's series of conferences to understanding the history of European integration and the place this holds amongst the States and citizens. Thierry Chopin, Studies Director at the Robert Schuman Foundation will be hosting the conference on 7th February next. His speech will focus on "Referendums in European integration: what comes next after the citizens have voted?"

On 24th January Spain demanded an extra effort to recapitalise the savings banks - the weak link in its financial system. The total requirement for the additional recapitalisation of the savings bank is estimated at 20 billion euros according to the Bank of Spain. The savings banks have until autumn to undertake recapitalisation supervised by the Bank of Spain. On 28th January seven savings banks, including the oldest, Caja Madrid, announced the transfer of their liabilities and their assets to a new bank born of the merger. The new bank called Banco Financiero y de Ahorros will be used to "harmonise the financial and trading policies of the banks involved and to pool 100% of the profits." On the same day the Caixa, Spain's leading savings bank started its transformation into a bank - an operation that may serve as an example for other savings banks which have been asked by the government to refund urgently.

Published by the European Commission the Europa Diary is designed to help "young people think critically". Distributed free of cost for the last seven years in over 3 million copies in 27 EU countries this year's diary rather strangely ommitted the Christian holidays! A petition was then launched on 12th January on the internet and received 32,000 signatures in 7 languages in one week. The French minister for European Affairs, Laurent Wauquiez spoke to the European Commission on 12th January to see how this error could be corrected rapidly. On 23rd January the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection John Dalli promised to include the Christian holidays in the new version of the diary. A supplement will be added to the copies that have already been printed.

On 27th January proposals with regard to the implementing of enhanced cooperation agreements to take forward the single patent in the EU as requested by 12 Member States last year were approved by MEPs and the Committee for Legal Affairs. Although all of the Parliament and the Council approve this action the Commission is due to deliver two legislative proposals - one on the linguistic regime and the other on the establishment of the single patent.

On 24th January the 27 Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers adopted a directive establishing new rules with regard to the late payment of commercial transactions. They also announced that by the end of the year the European Commission was going to launch a European monitoring programme on the death of honeybees in the EU in order to estimate better the phenomenon and come up with explanations. After the scandal caused by the dioxin contamination in Germany Ministers announced measures in addition to those announced by Germany to tighten up on safety on food additives for animals in order to win back consumer confidence.

On behalf of Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, an EEAS mission was sent on 26th January to Tunisia. Led by Hugues Mingarelli, Director General for the Middle-East and the EU's southern neigbours this mission met with the transition authorities as well as representatives of political, civil society and the unions. The EU is prepared to provide support to democratic transition in Tunisia with regard to policy, legal, technical and material areas.

On 25th January the German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso in view of preparing the next European Council. Discussions focused on energy policy and the euro. With regard to the euro they notably spoke of reducing the debt of European states; the future of the Stability and Growth Pact as well as measures to take to improve competitiveness in the EU were also discussed.

On 26th January the Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann met the President of the Helvetic Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They discussed the economic situation in Europe, the lessons that could be drawn from the economic crisis, relations between the EU and Switzerland as well as bilateral relations. Ms Calmy-Rey said that Switzerland wanted to continue the "bilateral route" with the EU. According to a press release published on 26th January by the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs the Federal Council was continuing a coordinated approach in terms of European policy.

After 232 days of intense negotiations and various approaches that have all failed Belgium is still in the midst of the most serious political crisis it has ever known. For want of "any hope of progress" ombudsman Johan Vande Lanotte, responsible for bringing together the points of view of the Dutch and French speaking parties with regard to the future of the Belgian Federal State presented his resignation on 26th January for the second time in less than one month. This time the king accepted before starting further consultations in view of asking one of the Belgian political leaders to undertake a new mission or to convene new general elections.

During a meeting of the Nordic Council on 25th-26th January in Finland, Dane Henrik Dam Kristensen revealed the programme of the Danish Presidency of the Nordic Council in 2011. Denmark intends notably to step up the decision making process within Nordic Council to create "a Nordic voice" in European cooperation and to establish a global Arctic strategy.

According to provisional figures released on 25th January which only concern the central State the Spanish budgetary deficit lay at 5.07% of the GDP in 2010, better than the goal of 5.9% which had previously been set. Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado is forecasting a final overall deficit for last year below the 9.3% mark of the GDP.

On 25th January France and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement that plans for the manufacture of four French Mistral class LHD's (Landing Helicopter Dock), two made in France and two in Russia. This agreement qualified as "historic" by the Elysée will enable the completion of the biggest project ever undertaken by Russia and a western country in this area.

During an informal meeting of Foreign Ministers from the countries of South Eastern Europe on 28th January in Budva Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droustas declared that "Montenegro's near future and that of the whole Western Balkan region was within the European family." He met his Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki. The meeting came one week before the start of discussions over the name of Macedonia, planned for 9th February in New York under the aegis of the UN ombudsman Matthew Nimetz.

On 26th January the Fianna Fail which governs Ireland at present elected as its head former diplomatic chief, Micheal Martin who is due to take over the management of the general election campaign which will be difficult for the party - since it has fallen victim to the discontent caused by the international rescue plan. 50 year old Mr Martin was appointed after a secret vote. The election was organised quickly after the resignation of present Prime Minister Brian Cowen from his post as the party's leader. Mr Cowen will stay as head of government until the next general elections the date of which still has to be set - it may occur on 25th February.

The Italian population is ageing and the number of births is continuing to fall but the country has witnessed an increase in the number of its inhabitants - to 60.6 million - thanks to immigration says the national statistics institute, Istat, in a press release published on 24th January. According to statistics for 2010 people the over 65's represent 20.3% of the population in comparison with 18.4% in 2001. In this cateogry the over 85's represent 2.8% of the population against 2.2% ten years ago whilst the over 100's have tripled during this time rising from 5,400 people to over 16,000. At the same time the number of under 14's has declined dropping from 14.3% in 2001 to 14% in 2010. The number of births continues to decline; in 2010 there were 557,000 births ie 12,000 less than in 2009.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte travelled to London where he met his British counterpart, David Cameron, on 24th January. Discussions notably focused on the European budget in Afghanistan.

"Investments in nuclear energy which Poland wants to develop over the next two decades will reach 100 billion zlotys (25.8 billion euros) said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on 25th January, after a government meeting devoted to the nuclear sector. These investments will be assumed mainly by investors and not by the Polish State said the Prime Minister. Poland, which does not have any nuclear power stations at present and produces 94% of its electricity using coal, wants to build two 3,000 megawatt power stations. The first reactor is due to be ready for use in 2020 said Mr Tusk. The project for the first station is due to be prepared in 2014-2015 and its construction will be launched in 2016 said the head of government.

The protection of Roma rights and their integration is not just the responsibility of their country of origin. "Cooperation and support on an international level on the part of pan-European institutions such as the Council of Europe were necessar," declared Romanian President Traian Basescu on 27th January as he spoke to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

In a joint article that was published on 28th January the heads of Germany and British diplomacy, Guido Westerwelle and William Hague called on the European Union to be extremely firm with the Belarussian regime thereby guaranteeing the people their support. "We must act. At the next meeting in Brussles on external relations we shall demaind greater sanctions on the part of the EU against Belarus and additional measures against the Lukashenko regime," wrote the two ministers in the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Wall Street Journal.

On 26th January the Slovakian government led by Iveta Radicova announced it had approved an amendment modifying the controversial law on dual nationality, which has been a source of dispute since last year between Slovakia and Hungary. According to this amendment which will soon be voted on in Parliament Slovakian citizens will only give up their nationality if they so wish it". Adopted at the end of May 2010 under the former government led by Robert Fico and which entered into force in July, the present law automatically deprives any Slovaks who have a passport of another country of their Slovakian citizenship. Bratislava was reacting at the time to a law that had been adopted in Budapest that enabled 3.5 million ethnic Hungarians living in a neighbouring country, mainly in Slovakia and Romania, to take Hungarian citizenship as well. The new Slovakian amendment also stipulates that "anyone who has lost his citizenship will be able to recover it."

On 26th January Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha was host to Miroslav Lacjak, the director of the European diplomatic service for the Western Balkans; the visit intended to try and settle the latent political crisis maintained by the opposition since the last general elections in 2009 - since they are refusing to sit in Parliament and take part in the voting whilst also international organisations such as the OSCE have validated the results. A bad loser, opposition leader Edi Rama encouraged his supporters in demonstrations that degenerated into violence. "We want an end to the violence and the end of all escalation," declared Miroslav Lacjak. He deplored the violence that was noted during the anti-government demonstration on 21st January in Tirana which led to three deaths.

The European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, presented an action plan for the liberalisation of the visa regime to Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat during a visit from 24th to 26th January. This plan establishes all of the technical conditions that have to be met by Moldova to enable the establishment of a visa exemption regime.

The Russian Parliament, the Duma (the Lower Chamber) and the Council of the Federation (Upper Chamber) finally approved the draw law ratifying the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) on 25th and 26th January. Signed in April last by Dmitri Medevedev and Barack Obama the START treaty provides for a maximum of 1,550 nuclear heads deployed to each of the countries ie a reduction of 30% in comparison with the level set by the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty signed on 24th May 2002 in Moscow. Altogether this treaty is considered as fair. On the one hand it enables the US to develop its anti-missile defence system (ABM), on the other the agreement enables Russia to develop its nuclear forces so that the ABM system is no longer a threat to it.

On 28th January the Serb Health Minister Tomica Milosavljevic resigned. Personal reasons were given to justify this decision.

On 24th January the President of the Helvetic Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey travelled to Berlin for her first official visit abroad. She was received by German President Christian Wulff and also spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders notably addressed the theme of taxation, EU/Swiss relations as well as the means to making institutional improvements with regard to bilateral cooperation.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24th January Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland insisted on the role played by the Council of Europe in policies to bring European states closer together. Taking note that "a cold wind was blowing over Europe" he added that the Council of Europe's mission was to "preserve the moral and legal foundations of European unity, not only between States but more importantly between people, cultures and religions." With regard to this he emphasised the work undertaken in the area of intercultural dialogue, and recalled his determination to ensure that there were no "second class citizens" in Europe.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 24th January in the euro area the new industrial orders index increased by 2.1% in November 2010 compared with October 2010. In October the index recorded a rise of 1.4%. In the EU new orders rose by 1.6% in November 2010 after an increase of 0.4% in October. Excluding shipyards as well as railways and aerospace whose seasonal variations tend to be more volatile new industrial orders recorded a rise of 2.1% in the euro area and 1.9% in the EU.

The French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) has just published an article by João M Santos entitled "Final Call for a European Space Strategy". The author shows that space comprises both a chance and a challenge for Europe. He explains what the long term stakes of a European space policy are.

The Jean-Marie Lustiger Institute has published the proceedings of a seminar organised in 2010 at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris. This volume was produced by Jean Duchesne and Laurent Grégoire and is a collection of the speeches delivered by philosophers, historians, politicians and religious people. It also includes a hitherto unpublished text by the cardinal himself.

The Beyeler Foundation in Basel (Switzerland) is devoting an exhibition to the painter Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) until 25th April - the artist became famous due to his paintings of mountains and his pictures of rural life. This exhibition is celebrating him as the precursor of modern painting which he rejuvenated with Monet, van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Klimt. This exhibition rallies around 70 paintings and drawings by this artist.