46 million Britons are being invited to vote on 5th May to answer "yes" or "no" to the following question: At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?" Britons will decide by referendum, a rare event in the UK.

During its meeting on 27th April the Economic Committee announced that the unemployment rate lay at 6.1% in March 2011, in comparison with 6.2% in March 2010. Over one year the number of job seekers did however increase by +133 people to reach a total of 14,786.

Every year on the occasion of the Europe Festival (9th May), European institutions open their doors to the public. This year the Parliament buildings will be open on 7th May in Brussels and on 8th May in Strasbourg. Take note of the date! The Robert Schuman Foundation will have a stand in Brussels and Strasbourg with a great deal of information on Europe and will offer you a wide range of our most recent publications on all types of European issues free of charge. We're expecting you! The Council will open its doors on 7th May.

On May 1st measures reducing the free movement of workers from the 8 States that joined the EU in 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia) came to an end. These measures were created during the Membership Treaty in 2003 and allowed Member States to reject workers from these 8 countries for a transitory period of 7 years. Except for Austria, Germany and to a certain extent, the UK, all EU Member States applied European legislation on the free movement of workers before May 1st.

On 29th April the High Representative Catherine Ashton indicated that the EU intended to place an embargo on arms and to prepare other sanctions against the Syrian regime in response to the bloody repression of demonstrators in the country.

In a decision that closed an enquiry on 28th April, the European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros denounced "the false information" published by the European Commission on air passenger rights during the volcanic ashes crisis in 2010. This follows a complaint lodged by the "European Regions Airline Association" on this issue, amongst others, on the inaccurate information dispatched with regard to compensation for late luggage arrival. The ombudsman asked the Commission for information before 31st May 2011 concerning measures that have been taken to ensure that this problem does not occur again in the future.

In a decision delivered on 28th April the European Court of Justice deemed the detention of an illegal immigrant if he refused to leave the country, illegal; this has been one of the most controversial measures of the Italian policy against immigration. According to the Court "a penal sanction as included in the Italian legislation is likely to compromise the achievement of the goal that aims to establish an effective policy to distance and repatriate migrants in terms of the respect of fundamental rights." In June 2009 Berlusconi's government adopted a law that made it possible to punish an illegal migrant with a prison sentence of between one and four years if he refused to fall in line with an order to leave national territory.

On 2nd May the European Court of Auditors published a follow-up report relative to the management of the European Anti-Fraud Office. The Court has drawn up a series of recommendations that aim to enhance OLAF's performance. One of these invites the Office to step up the number of inquiries it makes and to increase the pace of its work by devoting more time to its main function of investigative inquiry; another calls for greater contribution by the units responsible for informing inquiry work.

On 29th April German President Christian Wulff delivered the appointment certificate for the Presidency of the German Central Bank (Bundesbank) to Jens Weidmann who took up his new job on May 1st for a period of 8 years. Jens Weidmann was appointed in February as successor to Axel Weber who had announced his resignation for personal reasons on 11th February.

On 28th April the Chamber (Parliament) approved almost unanimously the draft law that aims to ban the wearing of clothing in public that hides totally or mainly a person's face. The Senate now has a 15 day period to discuss the proposal. This text had already been approved a first time in April 2010 but because of the government's collapse it was never finalised in parliament.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boïko Borissov made an official visit to Zagreb on 27th April and met his Croatian counterpart Jadranka Kosor as well as president Ivo Josipovic. He declared that his government would be amongst the first to ratify Croatia's EU access treaty. Ms Kosor said she hoped to see negotiations finalised in June when the 20th anniversary of Croatia's independence would be celebrated; both concluded that it would be an important message for the rest of the region.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi presented the resignation of her government to the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen on 28th April. On the same day President Halonen opened the session in Parliament which was elected on 17th April delivering a speech: "The political situation is now very different from what it was before the elections. It will also have an effect in the internal running of Parliament." The leader of the Conservative Assembly (KOK) Jyrki Katainen was asked to start negotiations in view of the formation of a new government.

On 26th April French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President of the Italian Council Silvio Berlusconi sent a letter to the Presidents of the Commission and of the European Council José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy to ask for partnerships with North-African countries, for the establishment of a joint asylum regime, the enhancement of the Frontex agency and the clarification of certain rules in the Schengen agreement. On 29th April the President of the European Commission answered saying that changes were possible and would be discussed on 4th May; however he noted that "management should not lead towards a vision that placed too much emphasis on security, which might appear as a negation of the very values on which the European project is founded." On this topic the Chair of the Foundation Jean-Dominique Giuliani published an article in Ouest France entitled "Populism, Nationalism, Egoism".

On 28th April Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker travelled to Paris where he met his French counterpart François Fillon. On the agenda were bilateral relations, the main topical European issues, economic and financial governance, the situation in the countries of the Southern Mediterranean as well as nuclear safety issues.

On 27th April the Greek Foreign Minister, Dimitris Droutsas hosted his Maltese counterpart, Tonio Borg. Their discussions focused on the situation in the Mediterranean, notably on migratory flows from the South to the EU and on the humanitarian crisis in Libya. On this occasion the two ministers stressed the need for the other EU Member States to show solidarity with the States that are most affected by immigration.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, travelled to Podgorica on 27th April to meet his Montenegrin counterpart Filip Vujanovic as well as Prime Minister Igor Luksic. Discussions focused on investment opportunities and economic reform in Montenegro.

The leader of the Moldovan Parliament Marian Lupu, who is serving as interim President, travelled to Bucharest on 28th and 29th April on the invitation of Romanian President Traian Basescu. He met Prime Minister Emil Boc as well as representatives of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Mircea Geoana and Roberta Anastase. Neighbourly relations and cooperation between the two countries were the focus of discussion from the point of view of political dialogue as well as trade relations.

On 28th April Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic became the first head of government to sign the petition for the creation of REKOM - Regional fact finding commission on war crimes in former Yugoslavia. Hence he expressed his support for work undertaken by civil society to seek the truth on the atrocities committed during the war and towards the NGO's campaign in the region (bringing together more than 1,500 organisations and personalities).

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin travelled to Denmark on 26th April where he spoke with Queen Margaret II and his Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen. On 27th April the head of the Russian government was guest to King Karl XVI Gustav and his Swedish counterpart Frederik Reinfeldt. The main themes on the agenda were the partnership for modernisation and cooperation in the Baltic and notably on the protection of the Environment. On this occasion Mr Putin invited Sweden to join the Russian satellite navigation project GLONASS.

From 29th April to 1st May hundreds of thousands of followers together with 87 foreign delegations including 16 heads of State and many government heads and ministers travelled to the Vatican for the beatification ceremonies of Pope Benedict XVIth's predecessor, Jean-Paul II (1920-2005). The celebrations highlighted the longest pontificate of the 20th century - 27 years from 1978 to 2005.

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mevlüt Cavusoglu travelled to Zagreb on 28th April where he met Croatian President Ivo Josipovic as well as Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. Cooperation between Croatia and the Council of Europe, the reform of the Council as well as the European Court of Human Rights were the focus of discussions. Mr Cavusoglu welcomed the work achieved so far, notably that which had contributed to Croatia's accession to the EU and he spoke of the successes achieved in the fight to counter corruption and organised crime.

The President of the UN's General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, travelled to Austria on 27th and 28th April; he met President Heinz Fischer and Vice Chancellor, International and European Affairs Minister Michael Spindelegger. During the meetings they addressed the reform of the UN and more particularly the reform of the Security Council, the situation in Libya and Syria, the priorities of the President of the 65th UN General Assembly, Austria's candidature at the Council of Human Rights, disarmament as well as cooperation between the UN and the Interparliamentary Union (IPU). He also held meetings with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

The OECD published a report on 27th April entitled "Doing Better for Families". According to this report the poverty of households with children is increasing in nearly all OECD countries. It recommends public authorities to guarantee that social aid policies protect the most vulnerable. "Family allocations must be designed well to maintain incentives to work, but they must also effectively protect the most vulnerable without which we are in danger of generating high, long term costs for future generations," declares the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria. The report also highlights that women have never reached such a high level of education and are now running ahead of men: in the OECD more than one third of women under 35 are graduates from higher education (in comparison with 20% just twenty years ago).

On 27th April Eurostat published the new industrial orders index in Europe. New orders rose by 0.9% in the euro area and by 1.2% in the EU between January and February 2011. Over one year in comparison with January 2010 new industrial orders increased by 21.3% in the euro area and by 19.8% in the EU.

According to a Eurobarometer on "Europeans and Energy" European citizens privilege measures that have no financial impact in terms of energy savings but they grant priority to practical measures to reducing their energy bills. This study also stresses that 80% of them want to make the 20% energy saving goal obligatory, 81% support the fight to counter energy precarity and 78% would like to see the establishment of a European Community for Energy.

The French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) has just published a study by Abderrahmane Mebtoul entitled "La coopération Europe/Maghreb face aux mutations géostrategiques mondiales."

The Robert Schuman Foundation has just published the English version of the "Schuman Report on Europe, the State of the Union 2011" with Springer Verlag. This is the second year of its publication in English. This edition is devoted to "Europe and the crisis and under threat". It includes an exclusive interview with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. You can order it on our website.

The Heysel in Brussles is hosting an exhibition on Tutankhamun until 6th November. On this occasion three of the Pharaoh's funerary chambers have been rebuilt in the same way as they were and contain 1,000 replicas of the most remarkable objects. The biggest museum of Egyptian art in Belgium, the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels echoes this exposition by devoting a large area to Tutankhamun and his family in its collections.