The Robert Schuman Foundation has published 10 original fact sheets that put into perspective all the responses implemented by the European Union in answer to the world economic crisis. The first six fact sheets address the world financial crisis and measures taken at international and European level to deal with its consequences and reduce the possibility of resurgence in the future. The last four fact sheets cover the euro crisis and reform in the Economic and Monetary Union.

According to IMF estimates published on 4th April, growth in the Belgian GDP is set to slow to 1.7% in 2011 and 1.9% the following year, compared to 2% in 2010.

On 5th April, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy discussed with MEPs the conclusions of the European Council meeting held on 24th and 25th March. With regard to economic governance, he was pleased to see the efforts made in just one year. He met with the Parliament's reporters and coordinators and reminded them that the package must be concluded between now and June. In his speech he also defended the "Euro Plus Pact", and underlined in particular the fact that in his opinion this was not a matter of dismantling Welfare States but of saving the European model, by making Europe more competitive.

On 5th April the European Commission launched a public consultation in the form of a Green Paper on means by which to improve European corporate management and control systems. The Green Paper gives priority to reinforcing the correct functioning of corporate boards by ensuring specifically the diversity of their members and by promoting male-female mixity or the co-existence of nationalities, and improving shareholder involvement in corporate governance. Finally, the consultation aims to set up, in the long-term, monitoring of the application of corporate governance codes existing at national level, in order to assess whether there is a need to reinforce the competencies of national control bodies in terms of corporate governance declarations. The consultation continues until 22nd July.

On 6th April Parliament adopted its provisional budget for 2012, an amount of 1.725 billion euros, up by 2.3% compared to 2011, whereas the inflation rate was 2.8% over the same period. MEPs reduced the budget by 13.7 million euors compared to initial proposals. Reductions were made in particular to the financing of political parties, information campaigns, I.T., building maintenance and human resources.

On 6th April the European Union Council adopted in writing sanctions against Ivory Coast due to the seriousness of the situation in that country. These measures include a freezing of all bonds from Ivory Coast and of loans to Mr Gbagbo judged illegitimate by the European authorities. On 11th April the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, saluted the arrest of the outgoing Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo, and promised to help Ivory Coast with the recovery of its economy as soon as possible and thus contribute to stability in that country. She reiterated her support for President Ouattara, his government and the people of Ivory Coast in their task of reconciliation, recovery and development. In this respect the European Union will withdraw its latest sanctions against Ivory Coast at "the appropriate time", said the head of African questions in the European diplomatic service, Nicholas Westcott, on 12th April.

On 7th April European countries formally approved the 3.5 billion euros rescue plan for the Airbus A400M, the European military transport plane, thus putting an end to discussions regarding the rescue of the largest European defence programme. The A400M, which is built in Seville, will employ 40,000 workers throughout Europe, between now and 2016.

On 7th April the German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Berlin. They discussed the situation in the Near East and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At a joint press conference, Mrs Merkel stated that progress in the peace process was more urgent than ever, underlining the aim of a "two State solution".

The French Community of Belgium, one of the three federal communities, has taken the name of "Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles", according to an announcement made on 5th April by the Minister-President of the Wallonia Region and of the Community, Rudy Demotte, and the four French-speaking parties in power. Although Mr Demotte underlined the symbolic scope of this change, he also said that he believed that this new name would convey the message that "we intend to record the fact that Brussels is a full and equal partner". This decision takes place at a time when the Flemish Minister-President, Kris Peeters has declared that Brussels should retain its status as sub-Region, an opinion shared by most Flemish parties.

Bulgaria, the first European country to carry out a census for the harmonisation of European statistics, announced on 5th April that its population amounted to 7.35 million people. The press release from the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute indicated that this figure is therefore down compared to the last census (7,932,984 inhabitants in 2001), and also observes ageing of the population. The reduction in the population is due notably to the death rate being higher than the birth rate, as well as to economic crises and the ensuing emigration.

The 6th German-Spanish Forum was held on 7th and 8th April in Berlin. The German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, stated that, through cooperation, Germany and Spain had the capacity and ambition to contribute added value to Europe. At his meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Trinidad Jiménez, the two ministers discussed in particular the situation in Libya, support for democratic transition amongst the EU's southern neighbours and the implementation of measures to stabilise the euro.

After the victory of the centre-right coalition in general elections held on 6th March, the Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, has approved the new government of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. There will be 12 members in the government, including one woman.

On 5th April the National Assembly in France passed on first reading a draft law defining the terms for the election of two additional MEPs. Whereas the last European elections in June 2009 were held under the regime of the Nice Treaty, providing for 72 MEPs for France, the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force on 1st December 2009, provides for 74 MEPs for France. Departing from custom, the National Assembly will elect from amongst its members two additional representatives as MEPs, using a proportional ballot. The draft law also provides for French people living abroad to be given the possibility of participating in European elections and the Ile-de-France circumscription will now be renamed "Ile-de-France and French living abroad". The draft law will have to be approved by the Senate.

On 5th April at the end of his visit to Hungary, the UN Reporter on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, spoke of his concerns regarding the recent legislation on freedom of the press implemented in Hungary. He was particularly concerned about the "climate of self-censorship" which this law risks creating, and about certain elements in the new legislation, such as the "prescription of contents based on vague concepts and the absence of sufficient guarantees to ensure the independence and impartiality of the body responsible for applying this legislation". Voted in July 2010, the legislation on the media hardens the country's current regulations, giving the party in power even greater control over the press.

On 5th April, Tunisia and Italy signed an agreement providing for regularisation of the 22,000 Tunisians without papers currently in Italy. The agreement also seeks to reinforce the economic development of the Tunisian regions where the largest numbers of the migrants have come from and includes a section on the repatriation of clandestine Tunisian migrants. The agreement also provides for the implementation of a technical commission to look "in depth" at the file on migratory flows. Finally, the Italian Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni announced on 7th April that Italy was going to issue temporary "humanitarian" visas to the Tunisian immigrants who had recently arrived in Italy, to enable them to travel to all countries in the European Schengen zone.

The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite met with the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo on 5th April. During their meeting they discussed bilateral relations, cooperation in the fields of foreign policy, security, the economy and energy and matters regarding the elimination of Baltic energy isolation. Norway and Lithuania signed bilateral agreements: a memorandum of agreement on the European Economic Area (Agreement on the EEA), regarding an EEA financial mechanism for the period 2009-2014, providing for financial aid amounting to 84 million euros intended for projects in Lithuania, and a bilateral agreement on the extradition of prisoners to their countries of origin, which will help in the fight against crime.

The Prime Minister of Malta, Lawrence Gonzi, went to Poland on 6th April to meet his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk. The two men discussed the situation in the Mediterranean. Mr Gonzi, together with the Maltese Foreign Minister, Tonio Borg, also met the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski and a memorandum was signed on cooperation between the Foreign Ministers from the two countries.

The Czech Minister of Transport, Vit Barta, announced his resignation on 8th April, following suspicions of corruption that have arisen within his small centrist Public Affairs party (VV). The resigning minister had been accused by VV members of parliament of having paid them bribes in return for their discretion regarding the doubtful finances of the party, which is a member of the tripartite coalition in power.

On 6th April the Croatian government announced the adoption of a report that meets the criteria necessary for closing chapter 23 of European Union membership talks: "Judiciary and Fundamental Rights". Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor reiterated that the aim should be to bring negotiations to completion before the end of June and underlined efforts in terms of the combat against corruption and organised crime, particularly high-profile corruption cases. Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic declared that the results achieved by Croatia were better than expected and that a programme for the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities was being prepared.

At an extraordinary session of the Kosovo Assembly on 7th April, 80 members of parliament of the 100 present elected Atifete Jahjaga as President of Kosovo. In her first speech, Mrs Jahjaga underlined the importance of forthcoming reforms and indicated her intention of taking Kosovo on the Euro-Atlantic route. She also referred to the importance of dialogue with Serbia, insisting on its European nature.

On 7th April the Serbian deputy Prime Minister, Jovan Krkobabic, announced that the reform of the pension system had been adopted, in step with European standards.

On 7th April the Ukrainian President, Viktor Ianoukovitch, gave his annual address to the Ukrainian Parliament on the current state of domestic and foreign policies. The President mentioned the future of Ukraine. At the European Parliament on 7th April MEPs adopted the conclusion of the protocol of agreement for EU-Ukraine partnership and cooperation to enable Ukraine's participation in the Union's programmes. The Parliament congratulates itself on progress made, gives a favourable welcome to Ukraine's accession to the Energy Community and asks for ever-deepening relations.

In a referendum on 9th April, Icelandic voters refused to reimburse a debt of 3.9 billion euros owed to London and The Hague. 58.9% of voters said "No" to an agreement to compensate the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where some 340,000 savers fell victim to the bankruptcy of the on-line bank Icesave in 2008. Only 39.7% approved the agreement according to the Icelandic Electoral Commission.

On 7th April the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers adopted the text of a new Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. This new flagship treaty from the Council of Europe is the first legally constraining instrument in the world, creating a full legal framework to protect womean against every form of violence and prevent, pursue and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence. The Convention also establishes an international tracking mechanism aimed at ensuring its effective implementation at national level. It will be open for signature during the Committee of Ministers session of Foreign Ministers from the 47 Member States.

According to a Eurostat study published on 4th April, the industrial production prices index recorded an increase of 0.8% both in the euro area and across the whole of the European Union in February 2011 compared to January. Over the entire period 2010-2011, industrial production prices increased by 6.6% in the euro area and 7.1% across the European Union as a whole.

Chatham House and 'The Centre for International Governance Innovation' (CIGI) have published a report entitled "Preventing Crises and Promoting Economic Growth: A Framework for International Policy Cooperation", written by Paul Jenkins and Paola Subacchi. Governments must understand the implications of their domestic policies at international level, within the context of an increasingly integrated world economy. The report also proposes a new "framework for G20 political cooperation".

The 5th edition of the reference work on Europe "The Schuman Report on Europe, State of the Union 2011" has just been published. Concentrating this year on "Europe faced with the crisis and other threats", it contains an exclusive interview with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. The book is published by Lignes de Repères. It is on sale in all good bookshops and on the Foundation website. Order it for a better understanding of Europe and know all there is to know.

The "Crossing Europe" film festival will be held in Linz from 12th to 17th April. The festival will show around 160 short and feature-length films, as well as documentaries from 35 different countries.