J-24 : enrol for the conference "Women for Europe and Citizens' Initiative" which will take place on 21st September at the European Parliament in Brussels. This conference, which is being organised by the Robert Schuman Foundation together with the European Commission, the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy and the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation, will look into how we might enhance parity in Europe by way of the European Citizens' Initiative. Some major personalities are taking part in the debate. The number of places available is limited.

Latvian voters are being called to ballot on 17th September to renew the 100 MPs in the Saeima (the only chamber in Parliament), after the approval on 23rd July by 94.3% of Latvians to dissolve it. At present 15 parties are represented in Parliament: the three members of the coalition Unity (Vienotiba) of outgoing Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovkskis, the three parties of the Harmony Centre Alliance (SC), the Greens and Farmers' Union (ZZS), a member of the government coalition, the six parties of the For a Good Latvia coalition (PLL) and the two parties of the National Alliance coalition. The election may change matters and lead to new coalitions, with a major reshuffle in the political landscape having already taken place during the summer (merger of parties, foundation of new parties).

On 16th August, after her meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that to maintain a strong euro "the Member States of the euro area (must respect) the Stability and Growth Pact in force." Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy put forward a tighter economic policy, notably the "golden budgetary rule" to promote a return to a balance in public accounts, and regular meetings between the Heads of State and government of the euro area in order to create "an economic government" of the latter. They also planned to harmonise company taxes in both countries. The French president and the German chancellor addressed a joint letter to the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy in which they laid out their joint proposals to reform the governance of the euro area. The French Finance Minister François Baroin received his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble on 23rd August to implement these proposals.

On 11th August the European Commission approved Spain's request to restrict its labour market against Romanian workers until 31st December 2012 due to a record unemployment rate of over 20%. Spain already opened its labour market to Romanians as of 2009 but resorted on 28th July to the safeguard clause included in Romania's accession agreement to the EU. The Commission stressed that this was only a temporary, exceptional measure. At the same time it indicated that it had started infringement procedures against 10 member states (Germany, Austria, Cyprus, Spain, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, UK and Sweden) for not having transposed a European directive, dated 2004, into their own legislation with regard to free movement. The Commission's intervention will lead to the settlement, via dialogue, of 90% of the cases launched with regard to free movement infringements. Since the summer 2010 a total of 786 problems have been noted, 711 cases (90%) have been settled, only 75 are still pending and are the focus of infringement procedures. With regard to France the government adopted the legislative changes demanded by the Commission on 16th June.

The entry of Libyan rebels into the town of Tripoli on 21st August was welcomed by all Europeans who now hope that Mouammar Kadhafi will be captured soon. The capture of General Kadhafi's former HQ was enabled by France and UK's intervention with the support of NATO. On 24th August French President Nicolas Sarkozy again hosted Mahmoud Jibril, the Prime Minister for the National Transition Council, and with the British Prime Minister they decided to organise a conference of "the friends of Libya" which will take place in Paris on September 1st.

On 22nd August in Zagreb German Chancellor Angela Merkel re-iterated the European future of the Western Balkans. After meetings with Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and President Ivo Josipovic, Angela Merkel invited Croatia, whose EU membership negotiations were completed on 30th June, to employ its influence to influence positively the settlement of regional disputes, such as that of Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia. Angela Merkel travelled to Belgrade on 23rd August and set the conditions for Serbia to gain EU candidate status by the end of the year in a joint press conference with Serb President Boris Tadic. In the Chancellor's opinion "if Serbia wants to achieve candidate status it must take up dialogue (with Pristina) and reap the benefits (...)". Boris Tadic answered that Serbia was perfectly aware that it could not "start any further conflict within the EU."

The Cypriot President Demetris Christofias formed a new government on 5th August to the discontent of the population after the explosion of a munitions depot on 11th July. Moreover the ratings agencies reduced the country's grade; Cyprus now faces major economic difficulties; the Finance portfolio was given to economist Kikis Kazamias, a former member of the European Auditors' Court.

General Elections will take place on 15th September announced Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on 26th August; the latter's Liberal Party has led the centre-right government coalition since 2001. He had until 13th November to convene the elections at the latest, four years after the previous election which his predecessor Anders Fogh Rasmussen won.

The Spanish Head of government, José Luis Zapatero, announced on 29th July that general elections would take place on 20th November. These elections had been demanded by the opposition.

In a letter addressed to the Presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate on August 1st the French Prime Minister, François Fillon announced that President Nicolas Sarkozy was about to convene an extradordinary session of Parliament as of 6th September to submit the draft finance law approving the European agreement to help Greece.

Italy has one of the highest youth unemployment records in Europe and the highest in the under 35 age group says a study by Confartigianato, the Italian craftsman's federation, published on 24th August. The peninsula has over one million unemployed who are under 35 years of age (equal to 15.9%).

On 23rd August the EU celebrated the European Commemoration of the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes for the very first time. In Warsaw Justice Ministers took part in celebrations organised by the Polish Presidency of the Insurrection Museum. They adopted the "Warsaw Declaration" calling for the education of citizens to avoid any return to totalitarianism.

A bilateral fiscal agreement was made between London and Bern on 25th August. This treaty that is due to enter into force in 2013 is a step towards tax evasion; this agreement makes it possible to recover the money of British residents with secret bank accounts in Switzerland. As of 2013 Switzerland will tax directly the accounts of British resident at a rate of 27% on capital gains tax and 48% for returns on financial (placements). The revenues from these taxes will be delivered to the British tax office.

Oleksandr Milinkevich, the democratic opposition leader in Belarus has published an analysis of the situation in his country and notably focuses on the reforms it should undertake to move forwards. He presents three options that Belarus might face in the future with regard to its development. The country's policy has remained, in spite of its independence, under Russian influence. Belarus is now considered to be the "last dictatorship in Europe". In Mr Milinkevich's opinion the opposition has to assert itself in political life to enhance democracy and the country's pro-European leanings.

Ukraine celebrated the 20th anniversary of its independence on 24th August. On this occasion President Viktor Yanukovich delivered a speech. This anniversary has been marred however by the imprisonment since August 5th of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. More than 5,000 Ukrainians demonstrated in Kyiv against the regime in office and in support of the heroine of the Orange Revolution, who is on trial for abuse of power. The arrest was criticised by the EU and Ukraine's international partners who recall that justice must be transparent and independent.

New industrial orders in June 2011 in comparison with June 2010 increased by 8.5% in the EU and by 11.1% in the euro area. However a respective decrease of 0.3% and 0.7% was observed between May and June 2011 according to figures published on 24th August by Eurostat.

Eurobarometer published the results of several surveys in August with regard to how Europeans view the economic situation and the support of public opinion to the "Europe 2020" strategy. The results reveal a general improvement in how Europeans view the economic crisis and the measures that aim to regulate the world's financial markets. In particular Europeans hope that Europe will take steps to counter the crisis, warn of future crises and hope that it will play a major role in the settlement of the crisis and the reform of the world financial system. The study shows that economic recovery is occurring but that its pace is not even across the 27 Member States. In its report on public opinion Eurobarometer notes that the gap between countries is growing. Unemployment and the economic situation are still the focus of national concern notably with regard to inflation and price rises.

On 22nd August the Bundesbank published a report in which it reveals its fears with regard to the measures taken during the European Summit on 21st July to help Greece. The German Central Bank believes that these measures "weaken the base of budgetary responsibility in the euro area and the discipline of capital markets, without providing any possibility of control and influence over national financial policies being significantly enhanced," and that these would lead to the greater risks of debt for euro area Member States and increased risks for lender countries. The German Central Bank, the Bundesbank, maintains its growth forecast however for the German GDP at around "3% this year", whilst noting that a number of risks weigh over the world's economy.

A book on the Council of Europe has just been published, entitled "Le Conseil de l'Europe. Une organisation au service de l'homme" (The Council of Europe. An organisation at the service of man). Its author, Xavier Pinon, adminstrator at the National Assembly hopes to raise the profile of this institution insisting on the diversity and range of the Council's activities, and on its vital role as guardian of Human Rights in Europe.

Until 2nd October the 1930's museum in Boulogne-Billancourt is devoting an exhibition to women sculptors of the 18th century until today. The exhibition presents around one hundred works of art by emblematic sculptors (Camille Claudel) and modern artists (Claude Lalanne) as well as the work of unknown artists.