On 24th May the President of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, received at the European Commission representation in France the Finnish European Affairs Minister, Alexander Stubb, who spoke on his "Truths about Europe". He highlighted the importance of deepening the internal market, opening up to foreigh trade and the structural reforms required to support growth in Europe. He stated that, although financial solidarity is necessary, it is just as necessary to establish common rules to avoid budgetary slipping and declared that growth cannot be based solely on debt. Finally, he put forward his conviction that the European Union will come out stronger from the current crisis, just as it always has after previous crises throughout its history.

Jean-Dominique Giuliani, President of the Robert Schuman Foundation, has published on his website an editorial entitled "France-Germany: the essential entente". In it he calls for the preservation of the entente between the two countries, which together represent over half of the European continental economy and without an agreement between which "in financial terms, nothing is possible". He says that although differences between the French and German positions may be great, the two States "would do better to discuss their differences [....] rather than remain camped on their own positions". Referring to a new cooperation treaty, which would take over from the Elysée Treaty, he declares that this "should, this time, go further and go into the details of a shared vision of the future of Europe".

On 24th May in Rome, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, gave a speech to thousands of students from Sapienza University. He recalled the need to create a growth pact alongside the existing treaty reinforcing budgetary discipline. In his opinion, this calls for structural reforms, both of the employment market, which must be made more flexible and of public investments, which must be extended using the increased lending capacity of the European Central Bank. Notably he declared that "governments in euro zone countries must define jointly and irreversibly their view of what the political and economic framework supporting the single currency will be".

According to economic prospects published on 22nd May by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), world economic recovery is definitely in place, but remains "fragile" and "unequal, depending on the regions". In the OECD zone, growth should thus slow in 2012 to 1.6% compared to 1.8% in 2011 and should be at 2.2% in 2013. The main subject of concern is the situation in the euro zone, which should see a fall in its GDP of 0.1% in 2012 before returning to modest growth in 2013. Growth should, on the other hand, be relatively strong in the United States and Japan. Within this context, the OECD warns against a risk of propagation of the European crisis to other regions of the world. Before the European summit on 23rd June, it also suggests several measures aimed at stimulating growth in the euro zone.

According to figures published on 24th May by the British National Statistics Office, GDP saw a 0.3% drop over the first quarter 2012. After falling by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2011, the United Kingdom therefore went into recession. Two days earlier the National Statistics Office had announced that the inflation rate in April had fallen by 0.5%, down from 3.5% to 3% between March and April. The inflation rate has not been so low since February 2010.

On 24th May the proposed law on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was approved by 100 of the 150 Dutch MPs. The mechanism's "authorised" capital, which will be operational from July, amounts to 700 billion, 80 billion of which will be "deposited". The rest will be in the form of guarantees. The Netherlands will pay in 4.6 billion euros as "deposits" in the fund and will guarantee an additional 35.4 billion euros. During the debates several parties spoke against ratification of the treaty, which was held to be non-democratic. On 22nd May, Geert Wilders, president of the PVV extreme right-wing party brought legal action before the courts in an attempt to postpone parliamentary ratification until after the early parliamentary elections to be held on 12th September. The Court has not yet rendered its decision. The proposed law should be put to the vote by Dutch senators at a date yet to be decided.

On 24th May the Danish Central Bank reduced its base rate by 0.1 point, to 0.60%, following the purchase of currency on the market, it announced in a communiqué. "The reduction in interest rates comes after the Central Bank purchased foreign currency on the market", specifies the bank. Denmark, which is a member of the European Union but not part of the group of 17 countries in the euro zone, generally follows decisions made by the ECB. The Danish krone is linked to the euro by a pivot exchange rate agreement which prevents it from fluctuating by more than 2.25% around a fixed value, and the Danish Central Bank ensures that the gap with the euro zone is not too unfavourable.

Spain's fourth largest bank, Bankia, which on 25th May asked for 19 billion euros in public aid for its recovery, has announced revised accounts for 2011, showing a loss of almost 3 billion euros. The bank, which is going to be nationalised on receiving this public aid, had claimed in February that it had shown a net profit of 309 million euros in 2011. But "a clear up in the loans portfolio, the property assets seized and the up-dating of the market value of Bankia's holdings showed a negative result for 2011 of 2.979 billion euros", declared Bankia in a communiqué. Of the big Spanish banks, Bankia is the most exposed to the devastated property sector, with a property portfolio of 37.5 billion euros, the vast majority of which (31.8 billion) is problematic.

On 28th May the four main Greek banks received 18 billion euros from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) with a view to their recapitalisation. The Greek National Bank (BNG), the country's top bank, received 7.43 billion euros, Alpha bank 1.9 billion, Eurobank 3.97 milliards and the Piraeus Bank 4.7 billion in bonds, as had been decided by the Bank of Greece. These amounts are part of a package of 25 billion, paid in the form of bonds in April by the EFSF to the Hellenic Financial stability fund for the recapitalisation of Greek banks, after the losses of around 28 billion euros that they suffered due to the Greek debt restructuring operation in March.

On 28th May the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, declared during a speech in Nicosia that the European Union, and therefore the Member States, hold their destiny within their hands. He reminded his listeners that the exceptional situation in Greece since 2008 has called for effort, sacrifices and solidarity. He stated that Greece "must remain in the euro zone and keep its commitments" and hopes that this will be the choice made by the Greek government after the elections. What awaits the Union, beyond this crisis, are real structural challenges and decisions that will be hard but necessary. He said that at the next summit meeting, in June, decisions will be taken with regard to employment and growth, "two sides of the same coin" inextricably bound together for future prosperity.

On 25th May, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, addressed members of the Slovenian National Assembly. He insisted on Slovenia's part in European integration of the western Balkans, underlining progress made over recent years. He then recalled the efforts made over the past two years to overcome together the economic, financial, banking and monetary crisis, declaring that rigour and the golden rule are not ends in themselves, but should enable public expenditure to be better directed in favour of growth.

In a report dated 21st May, the European Commission invites Member States to implement the national strategies adopted with a view to integrating the 12 million Roma people within the European Union. The strategies include access to education, jobs, healthcare and housing. According to Viviane Reding, European Commission vice-president for Justice, "the presentation of national strategies is an important first step, Member States must now move up a gear". The European Commissioner for employment, László Andor, believes that Roma integration is a "shared economic, social and moral imperative". Regular checks will be made on application of the measures requested by the Commission.

On 24th May MEPs took a stand on the granting of European funds to near neighbours of the European Union, notably the Balkans and eastern neighbours. Two aspects were addressed in the resolution: the first is the respect for Human Rights and democracy which must be a condition for the granting of funds, and the second is Parliament's participation in the decision on whether or not to grant aid. For example, the countries concerned must undertake to use the aid received to combat poverty and forced child labour. Finally, MEPs want checks to be increased, notably by the European External Action Service, which will be asked to draw up reports on all beneficiary countries.

In a resolution on 24th May, MEPs identified priorities in the combat against youth unemployment. The average unemployment rate is 10% in the European Union and 22% for young people, sometimes reaching 50% in the countries hit hardest by the crisis. Since the position of young people is dependent on the economic situation, MEPs are asking Member States to take action and put forward proposals between now and the end of 2012. This action comes in support of the project launched by the Commission on 21st May entitled "Your first EURES job", the aim of which is to increase employment rates amongst young Europeans by improving youth mobility and helping them to find a job in a Member State other than their place of residence.

On 24th May MEPs passed a resolution in which they attack the wage difference that still continues between men and women. They base their action on a persistent difference of 16.4% across the Union, and demand the adoption of additional measures in legislation that will make up for this continuing gap. Amongst the proposals are the establishment of more severe sanctions against employers (administrative fines, exclusion from the benefit of subsidies, etc.), new policies and new, more relevant programmes. The resolution was passed by qualified majority.

According to a resolution passed by MEPs on 24th May, the European Union should make better use of its resources in order to stimulate the economy. The European Commission and the Parliament have drawn up plans for this, and it is now the responsibility of Member States to apply them at national level. Valorisation of precious materilas should replace their incineration, for example. MEPs also invite Member States to head towards environmental taxation which would lead to a reduction in other taxes, notably in the employment sector.

After the informal dinner for Heads of State and Government held on 23rd May, the German government reaffirmed its opposition to the introduction of eurobonds. For Georg Streiter, deputy spokesman for the federal government, the introduction of common European bonds would not resolve the current crisis. On the contrary it would rock the foundations of stability. Steffen Kampeter, Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Finance Ministry declared "in the current state of affairs, the introduction of eurobonds would lead to interest rates falling too low, which would encourage European economies to relax their efforts". To overcome the crisis, Europe must rely on the budgetary pact, the signatories of which have made a firm commitment to restore their public accounts. Germany will oppose the introduction of eurobonds for as long as Europe does not have an integrated budgetary policy.

Growth in German Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was confirmed on 24th May at 0.5% in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter by the German Federal Statistics Office (Destatis). The annual rate, again with seasonal and calendar adjustments, showed growth over the first quarter is at 1.2%, confirmed Destatis, after having given identical preliminary figures on 15th May. German GDP fell back by 0.2% over the fourth quarter, but German growth recovered more strongly than forecast, unlike its neighbours within the euro zone.

French President François Hollande went to Kabul on 25th May to meet with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzaï, representatives of Afghan civil society and the French community. During his talks with H. Karzaï, François Hollande referred to the various aspects of long-term cooperation within the context of the Franco-Afghan friendship and cooperation treaty (education, the protection of women, agriculture, etc.). He indicated that military cooperation between the two countries will now be limited to missions offering training for the Afghan army.

The DGAP (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.) publishes a study by the MEP Sylvie Goulard entitled "France and Germany and the debt crisis - doubts on diagnosis and strategy" ("Frankreich und Deutschland angesichts der Eurokrise - Zweifel an Diagnose und Strategie"). The author denounces three major faults. The first is that the "systematic" nature of the crisis was not identified. The second is a wrong interpretation of its deepest causes. The final one is the overwhelming role played by the European Council, and therefore by the 27 heads of State and government, in management of the crisis. She believes that the other European institutions have not been sufficiently involved.

The Finnish Institute for International Affairs (FIIA) has published a study entitled "A Eurosceptic big bang: Finland's EU policy in hindsight of the 2011 elections". The author analyses the rise of the anti-European True Finns party in the parliamentary elections held in April 2011 and shows that their success has changed the government's European policy. He notes that for the past year the govenrment has shown proof of more prudence and reserve, even though it remains favourable to continued integration.

On 29th May, the European Chamber of Commerce in China published its 2012 survey on the business climate, which reveals on the part of companies investing in China an impression that the Chinese market is reaching "maturity", with labour costs on the increase. Thus, although 78% of companies say that they are optimistic with regard to the prospects for their operations in China over the next two years, only 36% believe that the profitability of these operations will evolve favourably. Also, 59% say that they are pessimistic with regard to developments in labour costs in the near future. The three main concerns of European companies in China are the economic slowdown (65%), the increase in labour costs (63%) and the world economic slowdown (62%), to which should be added a statutory framework that sometimes leads to "missed opportunities".

The Metz Pompidou Centre is holding an enxhibition entitled "1917" through until 24th September. Works of art created during that year are on show, offering a vision of artistic creation in war time and showing the way in which conflict affected the work of reputed artists or mere amateurs. Notably, the stage curtain for the "Parade" ballet, a mounmental work by Picasso, will be shown in France for the first time in twenty years.

The National German Museum of Nuremberg is holding an exhibition of the works of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) highlighting his early life as an artist. 120 original works by the great German Renaissance painter (from a total of 200 works on show) will be exhibited through until 2nd September.

On 27th May the 65th Cannes Film Festival closed, with a very European set of awards. This year the Golden Palm went to the Austrian Michael Haneke for his film, "Amour", whilst the Grand Prix du Jury was awarded to the British director, Ken Loach, for "The Angels' share". "Reality" by the Italian Matteo Garrone won the Grand prix and the film "Dupa Dealuri" (Beyond the Hills) by the Romanian, Christian Mungiu won the award for best script, whilst actresses Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan were joint winners of the prize for best actress. The best actor prize went to the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen for Thomas Vinterberg's "The Hunt".

The Eurovision Song Contest was held on the evening of 26th May. Sweden won with a score of 372 points for Loreen and "Euphoria". The Russian group Buranovskie Babuški came second with 259 points and Serbia, with Željko Joksimović, won 214 points and came in third position. Azerbaijan, the country organising the event, came fourth.

Icelandic tradition holds that no competitor stands against the outgoing President of the Republic when the latter is seeking a further mandate. On 30th June, outgoing President Olafur Grimsson will be up against 7 other candidates. In Iceland the President's role is essentially honorific. The Head of State is, however, a symbol of national unity and exercises moral authority amongst his fellow citizens. The presidential mandate lasts for 4 years and there is no limit set on the number of mandates. According to the latest opinion poll carried out by the Social Sciences Institute at the University of Iceland and published on 21st May, journalist Thora Arnorsdottir is set to come out on top of the presidential elections on 30th June, with 46.2% of the vote, ahead of the outgoing Head of State who will take 37.8% of the vote. The gap is currently tending to narrow between the two main candidates.