On 1st February the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese dissolved the Oireachtas (Parliament) on the request of Prime Minister Brian Cowen (Fianna Fail, FF) and convened a snap election (about one year ahead of time) for 25th February. Fianna Fail has been credited with 12% of the vote by the most recent polls by MillwardBrown Landsdowne, published in the daily The Irish Indepedent on 16th February. Fine Gael is in the lead with 38% of the vote (78 of the 166 seats in the chamber of representatives) and would thereby become the country's main party for the first time in its history. The Labour Party is due to win 23% of the vote; Sinn Fein, 10% of the votes and the Greens 1%. Those who are undecided (which represents around 20%) will determine whether the next government will be formed by Fine Gael alone or by a coalition with the latter and the Labour Party.

Growth in Italy slowed to 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and rose to 1.1% over the entire year of 2010, a figure lower than the government's forecast of 1.2% according to preliminary figures published on 15th February by the statistics institute, Istat. The Italian GDP rose by 1.3% over one year in the fourth quarter after 1.2% in the third (revised). Over 2010 the GDP grew by 1.1% after a contraction by -5.1% in 2009. The country's trade deficit soared to 27.3 billion euros last year marking a record high. In December 2009 the deficit lay at 5.9 billion euros.

On his visit to the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) on 17th and 18th February the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy spoke with the Latvian and Estonian Prime Ministers, Valdis Dombrovskis and Andrus Ansip and also with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. Herman Van Rompuy notably mentioned Europe's economic situation and the main measures that will be necessary in order to face the present crisis.

On 15th February the European Commission presented the EU's programme that aims to enhance children's rights by way of implementing the principles mentioned in the EU's fundamental rights charter. This programme includes a series of specific measures whereby the EU can provide added value to policies governing children's well-being and security, notably by aiming to promote a legal system that is better adapted to children - by providing better information to children with regard to their rights and making the internet safer for them. Moreover MEPs of the Civil Liberties Committee declared on 14th February in a series of amendments to the EU's rules that any pedopornographic content on the internet had to be removed at its source in all EU countries.

On 15th February MEPs adopted a regulation on bus and coach passenger rights which will cover all regular long distance services, both national and transnational (250km and more) as of spring 2013. The new legislation notably plans for compensation to a total of 50% of the purchase price in addition to the full reimbursement of the ticket if the operator cancels a service and cannot honour his transport contract if there is more than a 2 hour delay in departure. Moreover beyond a 90 minute delay passengers will have to be offered snacks and refreshments.

The Council formally adopted the regulation relative to the citizens' initiative on 14th February. It defines the procedures and conditions with regard to the implementation of the citizens' initiative. In particular a proposed initiative must feature amongst the EU's competences and fall within the Union's values. This year the Robert Schuman Foundation is undertaking awareness raising work amongst women in Europe with the support of the European Commission and in partnership with the Karamanlis Institute and the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation. Three conferences are being organised on this theme: 7th March in Warsaw, 6th May in Athens and 21st September in Brussels. You may also complete our on-line questionnaire on the citizens' initiative.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton travelled on 14th, 15th and 16th February to Tunisia then to the Middle East (Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon). In Tunisia she indicated that the Union supports the population's hopes for greater freedom and more democracy. In Israel and Palestine she recalled the importance of re-establishing stability in the region. In Lebanon she called on the leaders to facilitate the formation of a representative government and re-iterated the EU's support to a "sovereign, independent, democratic, peaceful and stable Lebanon".

The European Commission is distributing its development aid rather too freely and without any clear criteria nor adequate assessment of needs; it is paid directly into the budgets of poor countries and this was deplored on 16th February by the European Court of Auditors in its report.

On 15th February Deutsche Börse and the NYSE Euronext announced their merger to create the first "global exchange group, creating the world leader in derivatives trading and risk management, and the largest, most well known venue for capital raising and equities trading." The new entity will have two HQ's - one in New York and the other in Frankfurt/Main and will be owned by Deutsche Börse shareholders to a total of 60% and by 40% of Euronext shareholders. The two operators believe that this merger will generate cost synergy to a total of 300 million € as well as major growth opportunities in turn over.

On 16th February King Albert II extended Didier Reynders' information mission until 1st March; the outgoing Finance Minister was mandated to do this on 2nd February. Just a few hours prior to that Mr Reynders who is responsible for finding possibilities of an institutional agreement presented his report to the king. The next two weeks are to "enable the completion and greater definition of his report." Belgium has been without a government since the general elections on 13th June 2010.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet travelled to Berlin on 16th February where he met his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle. They said that Estonia and Germany agreed on the necessary steps to take to guarantee the stability of the euro. Mr Paet reiterated the Estonian government's opinion that Germany should be amongst the new permanent members of the UN Security Council. Ministers discussed recent developments in North Africa and in the Middle East.

The Court of Accounts published its annual public report on 17th February. The report draws up a list of observations made by the legal jurisdictions and analyses the answers which have been provided. It addresses finances, management, and public policies. With regard to public finance the situation of which is believed to be "worrying" the report observes that there has been a durable decrease in revenues, made worse by inadequate reductions in spending. As a result it suggests "more ambitious rules and goals" for the period 2014-2020, likewise an increase in obligatory payments, the decrease in spending and the implementation of more rigorous rules.

The Hungarian government accepted the amendment of its law governing the media on 16th February. On the same day the European Commission's Vice-President responsible for digital strategy, Neelie Kroes, said she was pleased with this decision. The amendments concern four points noted by the Commission and deemed contrary to European legislation: the creation of a surveillance committee, and particularly its members; the obligation imposed on the various Hungarian media, including bloggers to provide "balanced coverge" of news; demands in terms of the registration of the media with the new media authority deemed "out of proportion" and rules regarding offending individuals. However the main Hungarian daily 'Nepszabadsag' still believes that this is not totally satisfactory.

On 18th February the Council of Ministers finally reached agreement and they decreed that 17th March would now be a holiday in commemoration of the 150 years of Italy unity. On 17th March 1861 Victor-Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of Italy thereby becoming the first head of a unified Italian state.

On 16th February Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite hosted her Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski in Vilnius. They discussed economic and cultural cooperation. The two heads of State agreed that their governments will cooperate in view of setting out real proposals to put to the European Commission with regard to funding a gas pipeline and electricity networks between Lithuanian and Poland.

The heads of French and Dutch diplomacy, Michèle Alliot-Marie and Uri Rosenthal spoke on 14th February in support of the "creation of a European border guard system" in order to improve the control of illegal immigrant flows. The two ministers said that "various situations encountered today on the EU's external borders plead in favour of stepping up the governance of the Schengen Area whether this means an increased role for the Frontex agency or the creation of a European Border Guard system." With regard to any future enlargements of the Schengen Area they said they wanted a European framework that defined clear stages that had to be fulfilled and which could be checked in the field.

The Czech government announced on 18th February a new pension reform establishing the participation of private funds. "I can confirm that we have come to a framework agreement on a new stage in the reform of pensions that mainly comprises the establishment of a fund system," declared Prime Minister Petr Necas. The new system will enable people under 35 to contribute 3% of their social insurance into private funds. The over 35's will be able to opt for this new regime until the end of 2012. The government also decided to harmonse the VAT rate to 20% to reduce the present distribution system - only the reduced rate of 10% will be maintained on basic foodstuffs.

British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech on 17th February on the reform of the social protection system; this came on the same day as the law was presented by his government. He defended the establishment of a simplified system that will protect the most vulnerable and the most needy better and which will support those who want to work and find employment. In exchange the Prime Minister is expecting British citizens to adopt a responsible attitude.

The leaders of the four "Visegrad Group" countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland) opened a summit on 14th February in Bratislava devoted to European issues on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the group's creation. Iveta Radicova, the Slovakian Prime Minister who is chairing the group at present welcomed her Hungarian Polish and Czech counterparts, Viktor Orban, Donald Tusk and Petr Necas. They adopted the Bratislava declaration. On 15th February the meeting was extended to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Six leaders (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) denounced the regime of Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukachenko in a declaration on 15th February in Bratislava; they called on Minsk to "free and rehabilitate all political prisoners and put a stop to the repression of the opposition, independent media and civil society."

On 16th February Icelandic MPs approved the agreement to reimburse the UK and the Netherlands to a total 5 billion $ (3.8 billion €) linked to the bankruptcy of the Icesave Bank. London and Amsterdam covered the losses of British and Dutch savers after the collapse of the on-line bank Icesave in October 2008 and have been trying since then to recover what they spent from Reykjavik. On 20th February the Icelandic President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson convened a referendum on the new agreement concluded with London and The Hague.

The Serb Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Development Minister, Mladjan Dinkic resigned on 15th February in anticipation of his dismissal by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. The latter had communicated his lassitude vis-à-vis criticism of the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Dinkic's resignation will be looked into by Parliament. His resignation will be confirmed if 126 MPs approve it.

On 16th February Ariane 5 took off from the European Spaceport in Kourou on its 200th flight to deploy the European Space Agency's (ESA) second automated transfer vehicle (ATV) named "Johannes Kepler". This unmanned supply vessel is on a four month mission to service the International Space Station.

The OECD published a report on 18th February on the economic situation in Slovenia. The document analyses the way the country is progressively emerging from the crisis. It puts forwards measures to stimulate long term growth such as retirement reform, improving education, the promotion of innovation and the establishment of a better environment for foreign direct investment.

Europeans say they are badly informed over issues concerning European policy. Hence nearly 3/4 of Europeans (73%) believe that citizens in their country are badly informed about European issues. This observation is strongest in Spain (85%), Cyprus (85%), France (81%), Greece (81%), in the Netherlands (81%), and in Sweden (80%). Luxembourg is an exception with 55% saying they believed that the country's inhabitants were well informed. Moreover the decline in positive opinions about the benefits of belonging to the EU is continuing. 50% of Europeans believe that their country benefited from belonging to the EU, ie a decline of 3 points in comparison with the spring of 2010. The most dramatic declines were recorded in the UK (-9 points), Spain (-9), in Ireland (-8) and in Greece (-8).

According to Eurostat estimates published on 15th February for December 2010 the euro area recorded an external trade deficit of 0.5 billion euros with the rest of the world. In 2010 the euro area recorded an external trade surplus of 0.7 billion euro against 16.6 billion in 2009. The EU recorded a deficit of 143.3 billion in 2010 against a deficit of 108.1 billion in 2009.

The German Institute for International Policy and Security has published a study by Annegret Bendiek on the transatlantic fight to counter terrorism entitled "An den Grenzen des Rechtsstaates: EU-USA Terrorismusbekämpfung." Amongst other subjects the author addresses problematic issues in this transatlantic cooperation.

The book "Droit social européen et international" written by Sylvie Hennion-Moreau, Muriel Le Barbier-Le Bris and Marion Del Sol has just been published in the series "Thémis" by the Presses Universitaires of France (PUF). It aims to address the various facets of law governing the mobility of people in the EU when this leads them to work abroad and call on social protections systems of the various Member States.

The National Gallery in Oslo is offering visitors an exhibition "Rubens, van Dyck, Jordaens. Baroque Painting of Anvers" until 22nd May. The paintings show various themes including Counter-Reformation imagery, mythological and allegorical motives, portraiture from Antwerp, still-life motives, and genre paintings including representations of landscapes, cities and the sea. In addition to Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens 15 other painters are on show amongst which are Jan Breughel the Elder, Jan Fijt, Theodor Rombouts and Frans Snijders.