The Estonians are being called to ballot on 6th March next to renew the 101 members of the Riigikogu. The latest poll by Faktum-Ariko shows that the Reform Party is due to win in 7 of 12 of the country's constituencies and is due to win 39% of the vote and 47 seats in Parliament. The Centre Party is due to win 5 constituencies and take 25% votes and 28 seats; the Pro Patria Union-Res Publica, is due to win 14% and 15 seats and the Social Democratic Party 11% and 11 seats. The independent candidates are credited with 8% of the vote. The Estonian People's Union is due to win 2% and the Greens 0.4%; both of these parties are not due to be represented in the Riigikogu.

On 3rd March the International Agency for Diplomacy and Public Opinion (AIDOP) together with the Catholic Institute of the Mediterranean and the Robert Schuman Foundation are organising two debates on the theme of: "The Mediterranean, yesterday and today, cultural convergence and difference." The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation Jean-Dominique Giuliani will be taking part in the debate on 3rd March on the theme of "The UN, the EU and the Mediterranean, what cooperation agreements for peace?"

On March 1st the Finnish Institute for International Affairs is organising a conference on the present economic turbulence in Europe and on the future of the euro area. The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani will speak on the French and European outlook.

The Irish placed Fine Gael, led by Enda Kenny, as the winner of the general election on 25th February. The party won 36.1% of the vote and 70 seats (+19), but it failed however to achieve the absolute majority (the Dail Eireann, the lower chamber of Parliament, comprises 166 seats). Eamon Gilmore's Labour Party came second with 19.4% of the vote and 36 seats (+16). Outgoing Fianna Fail was decimated winning 17.4% of the vote and 18 seats (-60) the lowest score in its history. The other party in the outgoing government coalition, the Green Party, was also sanctioned since with 1.8% of the vote it lost its 6 seats in the Dail Eireann. The independents won 12.6% of the vote. The nationalist far left party Sinn Fein won 9.9% of the vote and 13 seats (+9). Turnout rose to 70.1% ie more than the figure recorded in the election of 24th May 2007 (+2.8 points).

On 22nd February Behgjet Pacolli (Alliance for a New Kosovo, AKR) was elected president of the Republic of Kosovo by the Kosovar Parliament. He won 54 votes during the first round of voting and 58 votes during the second round ie below the 80 necessary (2/3 of the members of Parliament) to be elected in the first two rounds. He was therefore appointed in the third round with 62 votes. 67 MPs only were present to vote since the opposition members chose to boycott the presidential election. Moreover Hashim Thaci (Democratic Party PDK) was re-elected by Parliament as Prime Minister. Apart from the Democratic Party Hashim Thaci's government rallies the New Kosovo Alliance, the party of President Behgjet Pacolli and the Independent Liberal Party (SLS) the main party of the Serb community in the country. This coalition is the first in which a Serb has been given the post of Vice-President. Ukë Rugova, son of the former President of the Republic (2002-2005), Ibrahim Rugova – recently split from the Democratic League and stood under the label of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo in the general elections on 12th December last and also integrated the government coalition.

As part of the 'Women and the Citizens' Initiative' project the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a conference in Warsaw on this theme together with Agnieszka Pomaska, MP, Adam Bielan, MEP and Krzysztof Iszkowski of the Centre for Democratic Studies (SWPS).

The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani has published an editorial on his site entitled "The Mediterranean is Waiting for Europe."

In February Luxemburg consumer confidence declined, after adjustment to seasonal variations, said a press release by the Luxembourg Central Bank on 23rd February. Consumer anticipation with regard to the general economic situation in Luxembourg had definitely improved in comparison with January. However the "financial situation of households" declined somewhat in February whilst their ability to save also suffered severe decline. As far as the future development in unemployment was concerned the figure remained stable.

The unemployment rate in Finland lay at 8.2% of the working population in January announced the Finnish statistics office, Statistics Finland, on 22nd February. This rate decreased by 1.4% since January 2010. In January 2011 215,000 people were unemployed in Finland.

In January 2011 consumer prices in Italy increased by 0.4% in comparison with the previous month and were up by 2.1% in comparison with the same month in 2010 said the Italian national statistics institute (ISTAT) on 23rd February. However the index adjusted to consumer prices decreased in January 2011 in comparison with December and increased by 1.9% in comparison with the same month a year previously. According to ISTAT the Italian consumer confidence index rose from 105.9 to 106.4 in February 2011. The improvement is due to greater optimism about the future of the country's economic situation and the family whilst the present climate index declined.

The ESMA supervisory board - the new European Securities and Markets authority has appointed German Verena Ross, as its Director General. She will be responsible for the daily management of ESMA for a 5 year mandate (renewable once). At present she is the director of the international division of the Financial Service Authority (FSA),the British Market Regulation Authority.

On 24th February the Federal Statistics Office (OFS) said that the quarterly indicators of the employment barometer in Switzerland revealed a significant increase in employment in the fourth quarter of 2010 from an annual point of view. According to employment statistics (STATEM) the total number of jobs had increased by 1.2% over one year.

Detailed figures released by the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) confirmed on 24th February that the country's GDP had increased by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010 ie for the 7th consecutive month. Moreover the German public deficit rose to 3.3% of the GDP announced Destatis on the same day. In addition to this according to a press release by Ifo published on 21st February the Ifo Index, the business climate baromater in Gemany improved for the 9th consecutive month in February.

In the UK bad economic news continues to pour in - the country is torn between a drastic austerity plan, a severe rise in prices and the collapse of the GDP since the end of the 2010 which proved to be worse than the beginning of the year. The Office for National Statistics now estimates the contraction of the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2010 at 0.6% in comparison with the previous quarter whilst last month it had been counting on 0.5%, it announced on 25th February. The ONS also reviewed the GDP figures downwards for the fourth quarter over one year - now estimated at 1.5% against 1.7% previously.

On 25th February the new director for Europe at the IMF, Antonio Borges declared that Europe urgently needed to build up its competitiveness and restore growth and create jobs.

According to data published on 24th February by the National Statistics Bureau the unemployment rate declined by 12.4% in January 2011 in comparison with the same month in 2010. In January the country had 6 797 officially registered job seekers ie a reduction of 961 over one year.

In February 2011 the Portuguese economic climate index declined in line with the trend that started in July 2010 according to data published on 24th February by the national Statistics Institute. However the consumer confidence index recovered in February thereby cutting the downward trend that had been ongoing since November 2009. Moreover the Portuguese State's budgetary deficit decreased by 31.4% in January in comparison with the same period last year thanks to an improvement in revenues of 14.4% and a decrease in spending of 2.6% said the Finance Ministry on 21st February.

According to statistics published by Pôle Emploi and DARES on 24th February the number of job seekers who had no work at all had declined by 0.7% in January in comparison with December ie 2,703 million people (19,300 people less). Over one year, the number had increased by 1.4%. In all the number people registered with Pôle Emploi lay at 4,045,200 in mainland France at the end of January 2011.

On 24th February members of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) presented their third report on the progress of the economic action programme in Greece the aim of which is to restore financial stability, re-establish competitiveness and create the necessary conditions for durable growth in the country. Amongst the work that was highlighted was fiscal adjustment to a total of 6% of the GDP reducing the deficit to 9.5% of the GDP in 2010. The representatives of the Greek government were invited to continue their work to guarantee stability and effectiveness of the banking system notably by way of tools deployed by the Eurosystem to generate liquidities. Approval of the conclusions of this third report should lead to a new payment of 15 million euros 10.9 million of which will come from the Member States of the Euro Area and 4.5 million from the IMF.

Following the oil price rises the Spanish government announced on 25th February that it was going to take energy savings measures. Amongst these feature notably speed limits on the motorways and express roads and the 5% reduction in the price of train tickets for local and middle distance trips.

After his meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas on 23rd February and in view of the next European Council meeting on 24th and 25th March, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy recalled the need to introduce true economic coordination of the euro area. He said that it was vital to enhance convergence in the area of competitiveness, establish a viable retirement system and strict budgetary regulation. He encouraged the countries external to the euro area to take part in the economic coordination process. Moreover he recalled the main objectives of the Eastern Partnership launched in 2009, such as the establishment of good governance and democratic regimes that were respectful of human rights in the partner countries. He said that the Eastern Partnership comprised a key tool to enhance the Union's commitments with regard to Belarussian civil society whilst maintaining its critical position with regard to the government in office.

On the occasion of his visit to Romania and Bulgaria on 23rd and 24th February the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, congratulated his counterparts on the progress they had made with regard to budgetary deficits and economic stabilisation. He recalled that the conditional entry by the two countries into the Schengen area was a priority of the Hungarian Presidency and encouraged them to continue work to meet the required criteria. Mr Van Rompuy said that the integration of the Roma was a prioity issue for the EU and hopes that Romania and Bulgaria will take active part in this. From a strategic point of view he highlighted the need to enhance the Oriental Partnership that was set up in 2009 in view of facilitating dialogue with Moldova, Ukraine and to enhance the presence of the EU in the Black Sea area.

During a meeting between the European Commission and the Russian government on 24th February, energy, trade and a new enhanced cooperation framework were the main themes addressed. The meeting led to the signature of four conventions in the area of energy, including the updating of a previous agreement in virtue of which Russia promises to warn the EU of any possible cuts in supply.

On 24th February the European Commission adopted a proposal relative to the interconnection of trade registers within the EU. This proposal aims to facilitate electronic cross-border access to vital information on companies such their legal status, capital or where their HQ is. These improvements should facilitate the work of companies who want to open a branch in another Member States, do business with companies in other Member States or offer services on a cross-border basis in the EU. The proposal will now be examined by the Member States and the European Parliament.

As part of the Europe 2020 Strategy the European Commission published a report on 23rd February assessing its privileged instrument to enhance SME's, the Small Business Act, launched in 2008. Between 2008 and 2010 this strategic framework enable the implementation of work designed to lighten the administrative charges and facilitate SME access to funding and new markets. In this same period 100,000 SMEs made use of the financial instruments included in the framework programme for innovation and competitiveness; this also led to the creation of 100,000 jobs.

On 21st February the European Commission announced the projects selected to receive a total of €170 million of trans-European transport network (TEN-T) funds to build and upgrade vital transport infrastructure across the European Union. The grants, which stem from the 2010 TEN-T annual and multi-annual calls published on 19 May, will help Member States to build missing transport links, remove bottlenecks and increase the safety and security of transport, with a special focus on making transport more sustainable, promoting the interconnection of different transport modes, accelerating and facilitating the implementation of projects and providing support for public–private partnerships. Moreover it announced on 25th February that a new step will be made in the implementation of the European Single Sky by 2012.

On 22nd February the 27 Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers held a third debate on the Commission's communication with regard to the CAP in 2020. They agreed on the draft regulation on the labelling of foodstuffs. With regard to fishing partnership agreements they adopted a decision which allows the Commission to open negotiations on behalf of the Union for the renewal of the protocol with the Republic of Mozambique and the Kingdom of Morocco. They also adopted a decision modifying the regulation concerning the use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture. Finally the Council was informed by the Hungarian presidency of the results of the 9th Session of the UN Forests Forum.

On 24th and 25th February the 27 Justice and Interior Ministers adopted conclusions with regard to the role of the Council of the European Union to guarantee the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU which has been legally binding since December 2009. They asked for the introduction of a new judicial framework based on an overall approach with regard to the protection of personal data in the EU. Moreover they recalled the enhancement of cooperation between the EU and Turkey for the control of the borders as part of the readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey and they welcomed the European Commission's communication on the "EU's internal security strategy". Finally two visa waiver agreements were made with Brazil for three month stays over a period of six months.

On 28th February the Council approved the amendemnts made by the European Parliament with regard to a draft directive that aims to facilitate safe, quality access to cross-border healthcare and to promote cooperation with regard to healthcare between the Member States.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou travelled to Finland on 23rd and 24th February where he discussed the economic situation in Europe, the enhancement of economic policy coordination and the stability of the European financial system with Mari Kiviniemi. Mr Papandreou promised that his country would pay back the loan given by European countries to save Greek public finances "interest included".

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a ministerial reshuffle on 27th February as he spoke on TV and the radio. Michèle Alliot-Marie was replaced by Alain Juppé as Foreign and European Minister, whilst he was replaced by Gérard Longuet at the Ministry for Defence and Veterans. Claude Guéant was appointed Minister for the Interior, Overseas, Territorial Communities and Immigration.

On 24th February the Italian and German Presidents, Giorgio Napolitano and Christian Wulff discussed European integration, the euro as well as the situation in North Africa and the Arab world. With regard to the present situation in these countries Mr Napolitano said that greater action on the part of the Union was necessary to counter emergency situations and to open up new cooperation opportunities. "This demand for greater European unity is also necessary with regard to consolidating our economies, our finances and our single currency," he added.

On 24th February the British government welcomed the official report which recommends measures in view of increasing the share of women on the boards of major companies without however calling for the introduction of quotas. This report written by former Secretary of State for Trade, Lord Davies establishes a damning view of male/female equality within Britain's main companies. "At the present rate it would take 70 years to reach sexual equality on the boards of British companies," he observes.

On 23rd February Trial Chamber II of the ICTY declared that Vlastimir Dordevic, former Serb Assistant Interior Minister, leading police official and head of public security guilty of crimes against humanity and of war crimes committed against Albanian civilians of Kosovo in 1999; he was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Mr Dordevic was found guilty of having undertaken a joint criminal enterprise which aimed to modify the ethnic balance of Kosovo in order to guarantee permanent Serb dominance over the province, as well as taking part in crimes of expulsion, assassination, murder, forcible transfer and persecution in 13 towns that were included in the indictment.

According to Eurostat figures published on 24th February the regions that came out ahead in the ranking of regional GDP per capita expressed in terms of purchasing power standards in 2008 were Inner London in the UK (343% of the EU average), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (279%) Brussels (216%), Groningen in the Netherlands (199%), Hamburg (188%) and Prague (172%). The regions with the lowest GDP per capita were all in Romania and Bulgaria, the lowest being in the region of Severozapaden in Bulgaria (28% on average).

In November 2010 France and the UK committed to a new era of cooperation in Defence. In his paper "Franco-British Military Cooperation: a New Engine for European Defence?, published by the EU Institute for Security Studies, Ben Jones studies the reasons for the signature in November 2010 of the Franco-British treaty. He explains how this new cooperation will function and what its effect on the European Defence policy will be.

The Bertelsmann Foundation has just published a study by Christian-Peter Hanelt and Almut Möller entitled "How the European Union can Support Change in North Africa."

"Economica" publishing has just released a book by Marie-Annick Barthe entitled "Economie de l'Union européenne." The author looks at European economic governance and the new challenges created by the economic and financial crisis for the Europeans. Which governance and crisis management mechanisms should be introduced in the euro area? What kind of social and fiscal convergence will make monetary Union durable?

Until 30th May the National Gallery is offering the public an exhibition of paintings by Flemish artist Jan Gossaert (1478-1532) entitled "Jan Gossaert's Renaissance". The exhibition shows 80 works by the artist including "Virgin and Child" which dates back to 1527.

The exhibition "From Daumier to Degas. French 19th Century prints" devoted to the lithography and prints of the great French 19th Masters is on show at the Kunstmuseum, Basel until 17th July.

From March 1st to 29th May the Prado National Museum of Madrid, is offering the public an exhibition devoted to the French painter Jean-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779). 57 still life and genre paintings are on show in this exhibition that covers the most important stages in the artist's career.

From 2nd March to 12th June the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome is devoting a major retrospective to the work of Italian artist Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) a major figure of the Venetian Renaissance. This exhibition takes visitors on a discovery of his major religious works and his portraits.