Jean-Dominique Giuliani, Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, has published an editorial on his site entitled "Dancing on the Edge of the Abyss". To emerge from the present crisis he suggests "a true European budget" and "strict common budgetary rules", as well as the creation of the post of "Secretary of State for the Treasury".

Are you for or against the dissolution of parliament?" This is the question which 1.5 million Latvians are being called to answer in a referendum that will take place on 23rd July. This popular consultation follows the announcement made by outgoing President Valdis Zatlers on 28th May requesting the dissolution of the Saiema (the only chamber in the Latvian Parliament). To enter force dissolution must absolutely be confirmed by a popular referendum. If the Latvians answer "yes" on 23rd July the Saeima will be dissolved and new general elections will be organised, probably in September. In the event of the contrary the head of State will have to resign and the parliament will remain.

In a report published on 21st June French Budget Minister, François Baroin reviewed the French debt forecast upwards. It is due to reach a total 85.4% in 2011, peaking at 86.9% in 2012. This development is the result of the new calculation method employed by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) on the public debt in 2010 deemed to lie at 82.3% instead of 81.7%.

On 23rd and 24th June the 27 EU Heads of State and government approved the results achieved by the Economy and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) on 20th June particularly concerning recommendations made by countries as part of the European Semester. They asked finance ministers to decide on a second aid plan to Greece in July. They also officially appointed Mario Draghi as future president of the European Central Bank, who is to take office on 1st November 2011. They also set guidelines for the development of a European migratory policy and notably a mechanism enabling the Schengen Area to respond to exceptional circumstances. They gave their green light to Croatia's EU membership and approved a report on Roma integration. On the southern neighbourhood they approved the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy and condemned the ongoing violence in Libya, Syria and in Yemen. They also supported renewed negotiations in the Middle East.

On 22nd June the European Commission put forward a new directive on energy efficiency, targeting a 20% improvement by 2020 in energy savings in the EU. The measures are presented to enable Member States to step up their work towards using energy more efficiently, from its transformation to its final consumption. This draft directive succeeds the Commission's communication on 20th June which set out the Union's strategic guidelines for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, Rio+12. This communication lays out specific measures on the transition towards a green economy in the context of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty; and also on the improvement of governance in terms of sustainable development. The communication still has to be discussed with the Council and the European Parliament.

On 22nd June the EU approved a compromise text guaranteeing greater transparency in terms of food. Hence labels on food will now present vital information in a clear, legible manner. In the future they will mention the energy value, fat, as well as saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt content. Moreover the new legislative act strengthens the ban on misleading information. The Commission also adopted a new draft regulation on consumer information on 20th June. It concerns baby food, food for young children and products for medical purposes.

On 23rd June the Council of the European Union and European Parliament came to agreement on the amendment to the regulation relative to the Frontex agency. This text was negotiated by the Hungarian Presidency, the Parliament and the European Commission. It still requires the vote of the Council of the EU and of Parliament which will probably take place in September. This new regulation extends Frontex's operational competences. Hence the protection of fundamental rights and personal data will be stepped up. A constultative forum on fundamental rights will soon be established.

On 23rd June the European heads of State and Government officially appointed Mario Draghi as future president of the European Central Bank (ECB) for the period covering November 1st 2011 to 31st October 2019. Mr Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy, is 63 years old and will succeed Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet after his 8 year term in office. European Parliament approved this appointment 499 votes in favour, 72 against and 89 abstentions.

On 21st June, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signature of the good neighbourhood and friendly cooperation treaty of 17th June 1991, the German and Polish governments met in Warsaw. On this occasion they notably adopted the German-Polish Cooperation Programme that includes around one hundred projects in various areas. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke of "exemplary" relations between the two countries, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that they represented a "strong sign for Europe".

On 20th June the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Gjorge Ivanov, met Austrian President Heinz Fischer during an official visit to Austria. They spoke of bilateral relations, as well as economic and cultural cooperation. On the issue of the dispute with Greece over the country's name Mr Fischer said that this should not comprise an impediment to the start of membership negotiations by Macedonia to the EU.

During a plenary session in Finnish Parliament on 22nd June the leader of the National Coalition Party, Jyrki Katainen was elected Prime Minister with a majority of 118 votes. He took over the coalition government that rallies six parties ie the National Coalition Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Left Alliance, the Greens, the Swedish People's Party, as well as the Christian Democrat Party. This government which comprises 19 ministers was appointed by the Finnish President, Tarja Halonen on the same day.

On 23rd June the G20 Agriculture Ministers met in Paris to set out a real action plan to counter agricultural price volatility. Welcoming this "historic agreement" French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was pleased with the creation of a "Rapid Reaction Forum", the aim of which is to warn of food crises. The twenty ministers also decided to increase world food production to counter the malnutrition of nearly 900 million people and to respond to world population growth which will total nearly 9 billion by 2050. Moreover the G20 has created a non-binding information system on markets called AMIS, the aim of which is to increase agriculture stock transparency, but it did not succeed in setting in place measures to fight speculation.

On 23rd June Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite travelled to Berlin where she met Federal President Christian Wulff. They discussed energy security, bilateral cooperation (notably in the areas of economy and training) as well as financial policy issues in the EU. During this visit the Lithuanian President said that energy independence was a key priority for Lithuania.

On 22nd and 23rd June Slovakian President Ivan Gasparovic hosted his Polish counterpart, Bronislaw Komorowski in Bratislava. The two men spoke of the priorities of the future Polish presidency of the Union, the common market; trade and cooperation policy. They also focused on topical issues and insisted notably on energy security and the Union's budget as of 2014.

Assunçao Esteves, member of the Social Demcocrat Party, was elected leader of the Portuguese Parlimanent on 21st June. She is the first woman to take on this position. In our survey devoted to women's position in Europe, 45% of those interviewed say that European policies devoted to women's rights are inadequate. What do you think? To taken gender equality forwards answer our grand survey!

On 23rd June British Prime Minister David Cameron travelled to Prague to meet his Czech counterpart, Petr Necas. They discussed trade and investment cooperation, bilateral relations and NATO missions in Afghanistan and Libya. During his visit Mr Cameron also met Czech President Vaclav Klaus.

The political crisis in Slovenia moved on to a new stage on 20th June with the departure of a second party from the government coalition led by Borut Pahor, which has been greatly weakened by the rejection of a reform of the retirement pensions. The head of govenment indicated that he would try to "continue with a minority government until the end of the mandate", in the autumn of 2012. The three ministers from Zares will be replaced he said.

In the conclusions adopted after the European Council on June 24th in Brussels, European leaders announced that negotiations with Croatia would be complete by the end of June and that the membership treaty could be signed at the end of this year. Croatia has to continue work as far as justice and fundamental rights are concerned, in order to meet membership requirements fully, otherwise the Commission will be obliged to take "appropriate action."

On 21st June, during Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin's visit to Paris, his French counterpart François Fillon announced that France wanted to develop "industrial synergy with Russia". It is within this context that Alstom signed a series of agreements on 21st June in the Russian electricity producing sector. By investing in Russian industry and by transferring leading-edge technologies Alstom, wants to enhance its growing participation in the electricity production market and confirm its strong commitment to the development of the Russian energy sector.

On 24th June the Ukrainian courts opened proceedings against Yulia Timoshenko, former Prime Minister, accused of abuse of power during the signature of gas agreements with Moscow in 2009 and for the poor use of funds received by Kiev in exchange for CO2 emission quotas. Ms Timoshenko rejects the accusations saying that she is the victim of a political trial orchestrated by President Viktor Yanukovich. The latter said that he wanted to enforce the fight to counter corruption but Europeans have expressed their concern about this political trial.

On 21st June the UN General Assembly re-elected Ban Ki-Moon for a second five years in office term as UN Secretary General. By adopting this resolution the General Assembly followed the recommandations of the UN Security Council, which on 17th June, said it supported the re-election of the South Korean.

On 23rd June American President, Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and on 26th June, Belgian Defence Minister, Pieter de Crem announced the progressive withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. In view of the progress achieved the US President said that he wanted to withdraw 30,000 men by the summer of 2012. The French President welcomed this decision and announced a withdrawal of troops to a proportional degree. P. De Crem announced the withdrawal of 300 men by the beginning of 2012. The transition process of handing responsibility over to the Afghan authorities will continue until 2014.

The two candidates running for the post of Director General of the IMF, French Economy and Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde and President of the Mexican Central Bank, Agustin Carstens were auditioned on 21st and 23rd June by the IMF Administrative Council. The appointment should be made on 30th June.

According to Eurostat estimations on 21st June, for the year 2010, the GDP per capita varied from 43% to 283% of the EU average. In Spain, Italy and Cyprus, the GDP per capita lies in the EU average, whilst it was 5% above the average in France. Germany, Belgium, Finland and the UK lie between 10% and 20% above the average, whilst Denmark, Ireland, Austria and Sweden were all around 25% above the average. The Netherlands lay around one third above the average, whilst the high GDP level per capita in the Union is in Luxembourg.

On 16th June the Bertelsman Stiftung published a report that was put on line by the Centre for Applied Research in Munich (Das Centrum für Angewandte Politikforschung) entitled, "The Arab World in Transition: Prospects and Challenges for a Revitalized Relationship between Europe and North Africa." The authors, Michael Bauer and Christian-Pierre Hanelt, look into the role that the EU should play in North Africa in the wake of the spring revolutions to encourage its political, economic, social and environmental development.

In its collection "Les Cours de droit, economie, gestion" Archétype publishing has released two pamphlets by Professor Alain Redslob which explains "L'Union Europeéenne en 10 Leçons". This is the 8th edition of these two pamphlets.

The Château of Versailles is organising a festival devoted to Venice and to the greatest works by Vivaldi (Venice, Vivaldi, Versailles) from 24th June to 17th July. Audiences will be able to attend a water and firework show as well as the production of tragedies and operas by the composer, ending in a masked ball, inspired by the Venice Carnaval.