According to data published on March 1st by the Federal Employment Agency (BA) the number of job seekers declined by 33,000 in gross figures in February in Germany to settle at 3,317,000. This figure 326,000 less than the February 2010 figure. The unemployment rate declined in February by 0.1% to 7.9%. Moreover the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) indicated in a press release published on March 1st that around 40.2 million people living in Germany had a job - this means 466,000 people or 1.2% more in comparison with January 2010.

On 3rd March the National Luxembourg Statistics and Economic Studies Institute published the results of some monthly surveys into industrial activity and the building industry for the fourth quarter 2010. After a contraction of 3% in the third quarter industrial production adjusted to seasonal variation increased in the fourth quarter (+3%).

The Austrian statistics institute, Statistik Austria indicated in a press release on 28th February that the inflation rate in January 2011 rose to 2.4% against 2.3% in December and 1.9% in November. This is the highest rate in Austria since October 2008. Moreover according to a press release by Statistik Austria on March 1st unemployment (adjusted to seasonal variations and based on the international definition of unemployment) the figure was estimated at 4.3% in January and this had decreased by 0.2% in comparison with January 2010.

According to provisional data published by Istat on March 1st the unemployment rate in January decreased by 0.4% (or -83,000 people) in comparison with December 2010. Over one year the number of unemployed declined by 0.5%. On the same day the institute announced that it was counting in February on an increase in inflation of 0.3% in comparison with the previous month. In 2011 provisional forecasts point to inflation of 1.5%. Growth totalled 1.3% in Italy in 2010 whilst the public deficit decreased by 4.6% of the GDP and public debt rose to 119% announced the national statistics institute, Istat, in a press release.

The unemployment rate in Denmark increased by 0.1% in January to 4.2% of the working population against 4.1% in December said the national statistics institute Statistics Denmark on 3rd March. Gross unemployment including all categories of unemployed remained stable in January at 6.1%. Moreover Statistics Denmark indicated in a press release published on the same day that the inflation rate in Denmark lay at 2.6% in January 2011 in comparison with 2.8% in December 2010. Also the Danish economy contracted unexpectedly in the fourth quarter (-0.4%) in comparison with the previous quarter after five consecutive quarters of growth said the national statistics institute. This decline is notably due to the decrease in exports (-0.5%) and public spending (-0.2%).

According to provisional estimates published on 2nd March by the Central Bank, Iceland acrrued a deficit of 53.6 billion crowns on the balance of current payments in the fourth quarter of 2010.

On 3rd March the Swedish Finance Ministry said it was counting on growth of 4.8% of the GDP in comparison with a previous 3.7% thanks to an increase in both domestic and foreign demand. Unemployment is due to fall from 7.4% in 2011 to 4.8% in 2015, ie a return to employment of over 300,000 people thereby reaching the lowest levels of unemployment recorded since 1991.

The Cypriot unemployment rate increased by 2.6% between January and February 2011. It is up by 24.5% in comparison with February 2010 notably in the following areas - trade, housing, restaurants, education and transport.

On the occasion of the meeting of the ECB's Governing Council Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet announced that the forecast for the inflation rate in the euro area in 2011 would be raised to 2.3%. Pushed along by energy and primary commodity prices inflation in February had already accelerated to 2.4% after 2.3% in January according to estimates published by Eurostat. Moreover forecasts for growth in 2011 in the euro area were also raised to 1.8%. Mr Trichet announced that the ECB's main rate would be kept at 1%.

According to figures published on March 1st by the Finnish statistics institute, Statistics Finland, the country's GDP had risen by 3.1% in 2010 against -8.2% in 2009. Moreover the volume of exports had increased by 5.1% and imports had risen by 2.6% in 2010. In the fourth quarter of 2010 the Finnish GDP rose by 1.7% in comparison with the previous quarter. Statistics Finland also indicated on 1st March that the deficit of the civil service totalled 2.5% of the GDP and the debt totalled 48.4% of the GDP in 2010.

Romania is now in recession for the second year running according to data published on 3rd March by the Romanian National Statistics Institute. The GDP is believed to have declined by 0.6% in the fourth quarter in comparison with the same period in the previous year. However it did increase by 0.1% in comparison with the previous quarter. The press release also points to an improvement in exports (+17.1%).

A report on the performance of the Irish Finance Ministry over the last ten years was published on March 1st. Undertaken by an independent review panel on the request of the Finance Ministry in September 2010 this report offers several ways to improve the ministry's results to enable it to rise to future challenges. Amongst the report's conclusions feature the improvement of the budgetary procedure, the enhancement of the ministry's responsibility with regard to Parliament, greater transparency in communicating on the activities undertaken and the decisions it takes. Moreover the Irish public treasury's accounts in February 2011 were communicated on 2nd March. The finance deficit lay at 1.945 million euros at the end of the February 2011 against 2.047 million euros a year previously. This decrease is in part due to an increase in taxes.

The statistics bureau, CBS, announced on 3rd March that 19,000 new companies were created in 2009. This is a rise that is entirely due to the growth in small companies; with those comprising one person experiencig the greatest growth, 5%. Between 2007 and 2010 the share of companies in the private sector rose from 20 to 57% whilst the other company categories declined proportionally. The sectors which are the healthiest in 2009 were construction, transport and telecommunications.

The French unemployment rate decreased in the fourth quarter of 2010 and totalled 9.6% of the working population (including overseas departments), according to figures published by INSEE on 3rd March. The mainland unemployment rate lay at 9.2% ie 2.6 million people (0.1 points less in comparison with the previous quarter and 0.3 points less than in the fourth quarter of 2009). Youth unemployment (15-24 year olds) lay at 22.3% in comparison with 24.2% in the previous quarter and has declined by 1.8 points year on year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Affairs Minister, Elena Salgado presented the budgetary results of 2010 on March 1st. She said that the civil service had reduced its deficit in 2010 to 9.24% of the GDP. Moreover the Spanish government adopted an energy savings plan on 4th March comprising 20 measures to reduce Spain's oil bill. According to the Bank of Spain the Spanish economy continued to recover "slowly" based on observation of the latest indicators that were available at the beginning of the year. However the number of unemployed in Spain rose in February by 1.6% in comparison with January and lay at a total of nearly 4.3 million, according to a monthly unemployment barometer published on 3rd March by the Labour Ministry.

According to data published by the Swiss Federal Administration on 2nd March, the GDP increased by 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 in comparison with the previous quarter. Investments, the trade balance for goods and private consumption likewise industry and the financial sector favoured growth. The GDP grew by 3.1% in comparison with the same period in 2009.

On March 1st Hungary announced that it wanted to launch another austerity plan this time addressing the employment market as a priority - thanks to which it would like to save 8.5 billion euros between 2012 and 2014. "We are going to reduce Hungary's public debt which is 80% of the GDP at present to 66% in 2014," announced Economy Minister György Matolcsy during a press conference.

During his visit with the Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy pointed to the progress achieved by Montenegro since it had achieved the status of candidate country in December 2010. He did however recall the need to continue work with regard to fighting corruption and organised crime, the implementation of the rule of law, freedom of the media and the settlement of displaced people. Finally in his final declaration he guaranteed that Montenegro played a key role in regional cooperation, notably as the country ensuring the Presidency of the Cooperation Process in South East Europe since June 2010.

On 2nd March the European Commissioner for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Füle signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to allocate an envelope of 470 million euros to Ukraine as part of the "national indicative programme" for the period 2011-2013. He stressed that the programme would be focused on good governance, the rule of law and preparations in view of an association agreement, a free trade zone and sustainable development.

On 2nd March the European Commission adopted an interim report on the progress achieved by Croatia in the field of judiciary and fundamental rights in view of the country's accession to the EU. It points to a number of improvement achieved in this area; the completion of negotiations on this chapter would only be put forward when all of the reference criteria are fulfilled. The latter includes the areas of judiciary, the fight to counter corruption and organised crime, fundamental rights and cooperation with the ICTY.

On 3rd March the European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger inaugurated the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators in Ljubljana. It is a new part of the European energy market structure and is due to be a privileged tool to support the liberalisation of the market as part of the measures included in the third "energy package" adopted in 2009 and which entered into force on the same day.

On 3rd March the European Commission launched the EGNOS "Safety-of-Life" service for aviation. The EGNOS system enables precision approaches and renders air navigation safer as well as helps reducing delays, diversions and cancellations of flights. In addition the free-to-use technology allows airports to increase their overall capacity and cut operating costs. EGNOS also enables the planning of shorter, more fuel efficient routes which will reduce the CO2 emissions of the industry. Moreover major measures to implement the European Single Sky were announced on 4th March. The European Single Sky initiative will enable the improvement of capabilities by organising airspace and air navigation on a European level and hence a reduction in costs for passengers, air lines as well as limiting the effects of aviation on the environment.

Economic recovery in the EU continues to make headway. After a strong performance in the first half of 2010, real GDP growth for both the EU and the euro area slowed down in the second half. The deceleration was expected and in line with the soft patch in global growth and trade that reflected the withdrawal of stimulus measures. Looking ahead, real GDP growth in 2011 is now forecast at 1.8% in the EU and 1.6% in the euro area, a slight upward revision compared to the autumn forecast. The improved outlook is supported by better prospects for the global economy and strong EU business sentiment. The recovery is expected to become more balanced towards domestic demand. Uncertainty remains high and developments across countries are uneven. The Commission's inflation forecast for 2011 has been revised up as compared to the autumn due mainly to higher energy and commodity prices. It now stands at 2.5% in the EU and 2.2% in the euro area.

On 7th March adopted a proposal to extend the budget of the 2007-2011 Euratom Framework Programme, which funds nuclear research, to cover the years 2012 and 2013. This is a formal step necessary to bring the effective duration of the Euratom Framework Programme into line with the seven-year period of the main Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), which ends in 2013. The adoption of the proposal by the Council would allow the continuation of current research work, aimed notably at improving nuclear safety and radiation protection.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day the Committee for Women's Rights and Gender Equality held a meeting on 3rd March on this theme. Most participants spoke in favour of quotas to reach a balance between men and women in both the private and public sectors. The committee's chair, Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL, SE) pointed to the progress achieved since the women's movement started, which defended the right to work, the right to vote and the right to education. She also noted that the present European Parliament with 35% of women is the one which represents best the male/female balance to date. However the transition towards gender equality is not happening rapidly and the road is still long she said.

On 7th March Employment, Social Policy, Healthcare and Consumer Ministers of the 27 Member States said they were determined to eradicate poverty and social exclusion by using all means possible. They recalled that the fight to counter poverty and social exclusion was one of the main priorities of the Europe 2020 Strategy. They adopted a new European Pact for gender equality for the period 2011 - 2020. They exchanged views on the outcome of the consultation on the Green Paper "Towards adequate sustainable and safe European pension systems.

Following the resignation of the Defence Minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on March 1st accused of plagiarism in the writing of his thesis for his doctorate in law German Chancellor Angela Merkel appointed former Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière as Defence Minister on 2nd March. The chair of the CSU's parliamentary group, Hans-Peter Friedrich follows in his wake as Interior Minister.

On 4th March the consortium that manages the Nord Stream gaspipeline project under the Baltic Sea signed the second part of the funding of the project with its shareholders in Berlin to a total of 2.5 billion euros. Funding of the pipeline is guaranteed to a total of 30% by its shareholders: Gazprom (51% of the consortium), BASF/Wintershall (15.5%) and EON (15.5%), Gasunie (9%), and GDF Suez (9%). The remaining 70% has been provided by 24 international banks. Nord Stream should facilitate the transport of gas from the Russian town of Vyborg (in the region of Saint-Petersburg) to Greifswald (Germany) crossing the territorial waters of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on 8th March German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated on 5th March in a video that many women in the world still did not have any basic rights. Moreover she insisted on the need to increase the number of women in managerial positions. "Germany is one of the last country's in the world when it comes to the share of women in managerial positions in businesses, particularly in multinational groups. This is why something must happen over the next few years."

On 4th March the Luxembourg, Dutch, Austrian, and Liechtenstein Interior Ministers, Jean-Marie Halsdorf, Gerd Leers, Maria Fekter and Hugo Quaderer met to discuss topical European issues. The Austrian Minister said that the events in North Africa showed the need to strengthen agencies such as Frontex, Europol and the European Asylum Support Bureau. They also discussed the Schengen Area and the fight against cybercrime.

On 3rd March the Latvian President Valdis Zatlers travelled to Romania where he met his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Emil Boc. The two heads of state held a press conference during which they stressed the importance of the political relationship between their two countries (future financial framework of the Union, CAP, cohesion policy, neighbourhood and energy policy).

On 3rd March Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker travelled to Lithuania on a working visit. He spoke with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the leader of Parliament Irena Degutiene and his counterpart Andrius Kubilius. Bilateral relations as well as Europe's political and economic situation were the focus of discussions. After his visit Mr Juncker said he was confident about Lithuania's accession to the euro area and said that it would occur in "2014 at the latest" "and undoubtedly in the next few years."

The Welsh voted in favour of an extension of the power of their assembly in a referendum organised on 3rd March in Wales according to official results. The "yes" won 63.5% of the vote during the election that mobilised 35.2% of the electorate according to the electoral commission. The results of the referendum will enable the Welsh Assembly to pass laws in 20 sectors including healthcare, education, local government, agriculture, environment and housing.

Hungarian President Pal Schmitt, Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Parliament leader Lazlo Kever hosted Albanian President Bamir Topi in Budapest on 2nd and 3rd March. The latter expressed his interest for cooperation with the Western Balkans explaining that everyone is benefiting from the advantages of Euro-Atlantic integration adding that advice for rapid integration was welcome. P Schmitt recalled that Hungary gave its support to Albania's bid to join the EU. Discussions focused on the development of relations between countries, notably economic ties and trade: Hungarians and Albanians would therefore be able to create partnerships in the areas of tourism, agriculture, energy and infrastructures.

Belgrade and Pristina are to start their first direct talks on 8th March - the first since Kosovo proclaimed its independence in 2008. This dialogue - under the direction of the EU will focus mainly on practical issues and should bring together Borko Stefanovic, the High Representative of the Foreign Ministry and Edita Tahiri, the Deputy Prime Minister in Kosovo.

On 3rd March the Turkish police arrested several people from the opposition notably journalists, as part of an investigation into a suspected conspiracy that targeted the government. The operation targeted Nedim Sener, designated as the "hero of the freedom of the press" in the world in 2010 by the International Press Institute (IPI) and journalists working for the internet site Odatv.com. These arrests were highly criticised by the opposition and by some of the national press as well as by the international community, notably the OSCE. The European Commission expressed its concern stressing in a press release that "Turkish law did not provide adequate guarantees of the freedom of expression." The French Foreign Minister expressed his "concern" and asked for the liberation of the journalists in Ankara recalling that infringements of the freedom of the press were impeding progress on the country's accession to the EU.

According to Eurostat estimates on March 1st the annual inflation rate in the euro area lay at 2.4% in February 2011. In January 2011 the inflation rate lay at 2.3%.

According to a Eurostat study on 2nd March the industrial production price index increased by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU from December 2010 to January 2011. The greatest increase in the overall index was recorded in Spain (+2.4%) and the highest decrease in Sweden (-1.3%).

On the occasion of International Women's Day on 8th March Eurostat published a study on 4th March devoted to the theme of women and men in the EU. According to results there were just over 200 million households in the EU in 2009 25% of whom were without children, 22% were couples with children, 17% were single women without children, 13% were single men without children, 4% were single women with children and 0.5% were single men with children. In the same year the study revealed that the rate of employment of women without children was 75.8% whilst it lay at 71.3% for women with one child compared to 69.2% for women with two children and 54.7% for those with three children and more. On the other hand the more children men have the greater their level of employment.

According to estimates published by Eurostat on 3rd March the euro area's GDP increased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010 in comparison with the previous quarter. The EU's GDP increased by 0.2% in the same period. In the third quarter of 2010 growth was +0.3% in the euro area and +0.5% in the 27 Member States as a whole.

The Centre for European Policy Studies has published a study on the EU's trade policy with regard to its Eastern neighbours. This study entitled "An Appraisal of the EU's Trade Policy towards its Eastern Neighbours: the Case of Georgia" was written by Patrick Messerlin, Michael Emerson, Gia Jandieri and Alexandre Le Vernoy.

Lignes de Repères publishing has released a new updated edition of the book by Etienne de Poncins entitled "Le traité de Lisbonne en 27 clés." This book facilitates an understanding of how the EU has been working since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on December 1st 2009. On this theme the Robert Schuman Foundation published "10 worksheets to understand the Lisbon Treaty better."

Odile Jacob publishing has just released a book by Michel Godet a member of the Foundation's Scientific Committee, entitled "Bonne Nouvelles, des conspirateurs du futur", a series of comments on the facts and acts of fourteen men and women, who, beyond all expecation and often in difficult situations have succeeded in recovering and making the most of innovative and ambitious initiatives.

The exhibition "The Evening Land" at the Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen is looking at Danish landscape painting at the end of the 18th century beginning of the 19th century in a new light. The work on show, notably undertaken by Jens Juel, Erik Pauelsen and C.W. Eckersberg features amongst other matters the agricultural reform of this period. The exhibition in open until 29th May.

The Schirn Museum in Frankfurt has brought together in its exhibition, "Eugen Schönebeck. 1957-1967" the major works by the German artist - around thirty large canvasses and many drawings on paper; the work will be on show until 15th May. Eugen Schönebeck, born in 1936 was one of the first German artists to address the theme of the trauma of the Second World War.

Many European professionals working in the cinema industry signed a petition requesting the protection of the European "Media" programme in support of the cinema. Indeed fears of seeing the Commission put a halt to funding of this programme or to merge it with another have been expressed. On 7th March the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso denied that he wanted to do this. On the contrary he said he wanted to strengthen existing measures.

The Cologne Carnaval started on 3rd March in the Old Market Square at 11 minutes past 11 am with the traditional Women's Carnaval. The carnaval period believed to be the fifth season in Germany symbolises the joy of life and happiness before Ash Sunday.