On 22nd June the Robert Schuman Foundation and Edelman-the Centre organised a conference in Brussels on the future of the European budget after the crisis. The Foundation has published a report of the conference.

On 30th June the Italian government adopted a severe austerity plan to save around 47 billion euros by 2014 and in order to achieve almost budgetary balance and to reassure the markets. This austerity plan should help Italy to honour its commitment towards Brussels in achieving the goal of a 0.2% GDP deficit in comparison with 4.6% in 2010. This plan will now have to be approved by Parliament. The President of the Italian Council Silvio Berlusconi announced that he was about to ask for a confidence vote.

On 28th June the Pôle Emploi (Employment Agency) announced a 1% increase in the number of job seekers in May, in comparison with April 2011,a rise of 3.8% in comparison with the previous year. INSEE announced on 29th June that it had revised the GDP forecast down slightly in the first quarter to 0.9%, against 1% announced previously. Finally on 30th June INSEE published a report on France's public debt at the end of the first quarter of 2011. According to this report the public debt had increased by 54.9 billion euros between the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011, bringing the public debt up to 1,646.1 billion euros, which is equal to 84.9% of the GDP. This rise can be explained by the State's increased debt together with that of the social security, whilst the various central administrative bodies and local administrations had reduced theirs.

On 30th June the Bulgarian Parliament announced an amendment to the budget law as part of the Financial Stability Pact which sets the limit of the public deficit at 2% of the GDP as of 2012. According to the budget that is currently in application the deficit is due to decrease to 2.5% in 2011 whilst it had reached 4.5% of the GDP in 2010. The Deputy Prime minister and Bulgarian Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov stressed that these rules would guarantee the stability for the country's growth and would give Bulgaria a new outlook from an international point of view.

According to data published on 30th June by the Federal Employment Agency, unemployment has continued to decline in Germany. Indeed 2,893 million job seekers were registered in June, ie 67,000 less than in May. In one year there were 225,000 more people in paid work or in a job.

On 29th and 30th June the Greek Parliament voted successively (155 votes out of 296) in approval of the framework law and the law pertaining to the implementation of the austerity plan. Whilst they contested it in a first vote the Greek opposition accepted the privatisations and the reductions in public spending "on principle", although it voted against the law because of the fiscal measures it included. In a letter addressed to the President of the European Commission Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked for the rapid implementation of the aid offered by the European Commission to boost Greek growth.

According to the most recent calculations by the Austrian statistics institute made public on 30th June the Austrian government's debt totalled 210.3 billion euros in the first quarter of 2011 which is equal to 72.8% of the national GDP. It has therefore increased by 2.5% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2010.

Croatia has to "make more decisive" reforms, notably in the area of competitiveness and public administration, which are vital for the recovery of its economy that has been severely affected by the world crisis, said the IMF on 1st July. Welcoming the progress Croatia has made on its path to the EU the IMF's adminsitrative council stressed in a press release that "major challenges still needed to be overcome to guarantee the vigorous recovery" of the local economy.

On 2nd July the 17 Finance Ministers of the Euro Area Member States welcomed the progress made by the Greek authorities in implementing the policies decided jointly by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF. Hence the Greek parliament adopted reforms relative to taxation and privatisation. Moreover the 17 ministers approved the Commission's report on the respect of commitments made by Greece and the signature of the Memorandum Agreement. They also gave the go ahead for the payment of the fifth part of the loan to Greece which is due to take place on 15th July.

As of July 1st 2011 until 30th June 2012 EU mobile phone operators will again be obliged to reduce tariffs on roaming calls, in line with the rules adopted by the EU in 2007 and modified in 2009. Consumers who are travelling in a Member State other than their own will pay - if they opt for the Eurotarif" a maximum of 35cts per minute for calls made and 11cts per minute for calls received. This reduction is the latest in the series of price reductions included in the roaming regulation that is currently in application and which will expire at the end of June 2012.

On 29th June the Commission put forward its proposal for a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020. It suggests stabilising the European budget at its present level of 1.05% of the EU GNI ie a package of €1,025 billion in commitments over the period 2014-2020, instead of the 975 billion spent between 2007 and 2013 (an increase of 5%). In terms of income the Commission suggests the extension of the present rebate scheme to all countries and to index this against each country's prosperity levels; the establishment of a tax on financial transactions of 0.01% on derivated trade and of 0.1% on sovereign bond trade and the establishment of a European VAT. On spending, the Commission suggests freezing spending on the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) and a reduction of 5% in staff and an increase in the funds for external relations and internal affairs. Amongst responses to this London and Berlin have been particularly critical of the Commission's proposal whilst France has insisted on the need to stabilise the CAP.

On 27th June the eighth meeting between the EU and the OPEC countries (Oil Exporting Countries) took place in Vienna. Participants were satisfied with the progress made in terms of dialogue on energy that started in 2005. This dialogue is vital because of the volatility of prices on the oil market. The EU stressed the effects of the Arab spring on oil prices and energy policy. Both sides said that it was important to share information and data on the supply and demand of oil. The conclusions of two joint studies were also discussed. These were studies on the effects and use of bio-fuels on refinery and on the specific features of oil published in 2009; the second study focused on the effects of the economic crisis on oil investments.

On 27th June 25 European countries took further steps towards creating unitary patent protection with a political agreement on its means of enforcement. Spain and Italy, who refused to take part in the initiative, are challenging this at the European court. Ministers also adopted a general approach to extend the present nuclear energy framework programme (Euratom) by two years for research and training activities. Finally they noted the recent agreement by the European Parliament on a new directive that will aim to improve consumers' rights in terms of distance and off premises purchases.

On 27th June the second meeting on Iceland's accession to the EU took place at the Council of the European Union. It aimed to open negotiations on chapters five and ten involving public markets, IT and the media respectively. Chapter 25, relative to science and research, and chapter 26 on education, culture were openend and provisionally closed. Negotiations started on 27th July 2010. According to the Council the analysis of the implemention of the acquis had moved forwards. Moreover Member States decided on 30th June to finalise membership negotiations with Croatia. Hence, the signature of the membership treaty should take place within the next six months and Croatia's integration is planned for 1st July 2013. Three days earlier Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor pointed to how proud her country was at having completed the EU accession negotiations in time for the 20th anniversary of its indepedence.

On 2nd July Serbia and Kosovo signed three agreements in Brussels thanks to the help of the European Union. These were the first agreements since Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008. The first agreement regarding civilian registers will facilitate the EU's mission EULEX to certify the copies of original civilian registers to establish a future Kosovar civilian register. The second agreement will facilitate the freedom of movement between Kosovo and Serbia via the acknowledgement of identity cards, insurance and registration plates on border crossings. The third agreement concerns the principle of mutual recognition of school and university diplomas. The European Union has played the role of facilitator in this dialogue that was part of the 64/298 UN resolution.

According to a Eurostat study published on 1st July the unemployment rate, adjusted to seasonal variations, totalled 9.9% in the euro area in May 2011. It lay at 10.2% in May 2010. In the EU the unemployment rate totalled 9.3% in May 2011, against 9.7% in May 2010. Hence 22,378 million men and women were unemployed in May 2011 in the EU, of whom 15,510 million were in the euro area. In comparison with April 2011 the number of job seekers decreased by 5,000 in the EU and increased by 16,000 in the euro area. The lowest unemployment rate lay in the Netherlands at 4.2%. The highest was in Spain, 20.9%.

The Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS) has published a study by Filipa Figueira and Jorge Nuñez Ferrer entitled "Achieving Europe's R&D Objectives". Looking at European strengths and weaknesses in R&D the authors plead in favour of a strong role for the EU both as coordinator and fund provider.

The Egmont Institute has published two studies on the European Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). In a first study entitled "Europe deploys towards a civil-military strategy for CSDP", Sven Biscop and Jo Coelmont set out detailed recommendations for a civil-military strategy for the EU. In a second study entitled "Worse not Better? Reinvigorating Early Warning for Conflict Prevention in the Post-Lisbon European Union", John Brante, Chiara de Franco, Christoph Meyer and Florian Otto suggest that the new post-Lisbon system may lead to slowing response to conflict and advise on an early warning system to remedy this.

On 13th July the International Modern Dance Festival of Vienna, "Impulstanz" will start - it first took place in 1984 on the initiative of Austrian Karl Regensburger and Brazilian dancer/choreographer, Ismael Ivo. Every summer this festival brings together the greatest choreographers from all over the world for a four week period where they can produce shows on some of the most prestigious stages.

The Royal Albert Hall and the BBC are organising the next "BBC Proms 2011" festival from 15th July to 10th September in London. The concerts bring together the biggest names in classical music.

The 65th Avignon Festival 2011, the main European event in theatre, will take place from 6th to 26th July. The Cité des Papes will host many shows, exhibitions and concerts.