On 29th May Jean-Michel Floc'hlay, the chairman-founder of "Fenêtre sur l'Europe", passed away. Fenêtre sur l'Europe is a site devoted to European information and news of which the Foundation is a partner. After a career with the Bank of France where he was notably advisor to Jean-Claude Trichet, Jean-Michel Floc'hlay, a fervent European, created "Fenêtre sur l'Europe" ten years ago. The Robert Schuman Foundation has lost a dear friend and addresses its warmest thoughts to his family and the 'fenetreeurope' team.

Five weeks after having elected François Hollande (Socialist Party, PS) as President of the Republic, 46 million French citizens are being called to ballot on 10th and 17th June next to renew the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament. The French are due to provide François Hollande with the majority he needs to govern for the next five years. According to the most recent poll by Ipsos on 25th and 26th May the UMP is due to win 35% of the vote and the PS 31%. The FN is due to win 15%, the Left Front, 8% and the EELV, 6%. The IFOP poll published on 30th May credits the PS with 34% of the vote, the UMP 32%. The FN is due to win 15.5%, the Left Front 7% and the EELV 3.5%.

According to the most recent revised figures published by the national statistics bureau on 30th May, Lithuania's GDP increased by 3.9% between the first quarter of 2011 and the first of 2012. In comparison with the last quarter of 2011 it experienced a decrease of 7.3% however.

On 30th May the British government cancelled one of the measures announced in the "austerity budget" in March. It concerned the capping of tax rebates granted to donations made to charitable organisations which until now could not total more than £50,000 (around 62,000 euros) or 25% of income. Some days earlier British Finance Minister George Osborne was forced to cancel other budgetary measures such as the taxation of "Cornish Pasties".

Unemployment declined further in Germany in May, the gross rate lying at 6.7% against 7% the previous month, but its decrease has slowed significantly according to figures published on 31st May. "The positive trend is still there", commented the Employment Agency in its press release as it published figures but "the development has slowed over the last few months."

According to provisional data communicated on 1st June by the Italian statistics institute, Istat, the unemployment rate rose again to lie at 10.2% in April 2012. The employment rate lay at 57% in the same month. Moreover the estimated unemployment rate for March was reviewed upwards at 10.1% against a previous 9.8%.

According to figures released by the French Employment Ministry on 30th May the number of job seekers without any work at all in mainland France rose by 0.1% in April for the 12 consecutive month to reach 2,888 million people, ie 4,300 more than in March. With those working at a reduced rate the total number of job seekers reaches 4.318 million people (4.592 including overseas territories), (+9,200), ie an increase of 0.2%.

7 States out of 25 have ratified the European Budgetary Pact Submitted to referendum on 31st May the Irish approved the treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (TSCG), more commonly known as the European budgetary pact - by 60.29% of the votes cast. In addition to Ireland, two countries have ratified it via parliament over the last few days. Hence on 31st May the Latvian MPs approved it, 67 votes in favour, 29 against. On the same day the Danish MPs approved the text, 80 votes to 27. To date 7 EU States have ratified it. The Robert Schuman Foundation has produced a summary table of the ratification procedures in the various countries.

According to figures published on June 1st by the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, the unemployment rate in Austria declined in May to 6.2% of the working population, in comparison with 6.8% the previous month. The number of job seekers totalled 231,077 or 301,715 if the number of people following training is included, said the ministry.

The aid plan to Portugal "is still on course, even though there are still challenges to rise to" said its international creditors on 4th June after a further assessment of the austerity programme and the reforms that was agreed in May 2011. "This assessment confirms that the programme is making significant progress," declared the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, in a joint press release. The EU-ECB-IMF mission recommends the payment of further aid of 4.1 billion euros as part of a total loan of 78 billion.

On 30th May the European Commissioin presented new proposals for EURODAC, the system to record asylum seekers' fingerprints. Taking into account that the increase in asylum seekers might endanger the reception capacities of some Member States the Commission has suggested improvements to the system via the clarification of the transmission of data, total compatibility with the most recent legislation, and even the possibility for law enforcement services to consult the EURODAC database. This will be done in the "full respect of fundamental rights and private life," declared Cécilia Malmström, the European Commission responsible for Internal Affairs.

On June 1st the European Commission and the American Transport Security Administration have declared that they mutually recognise their respective air cargo security regimes. This agreement enables the suppression of repeated checks and will set a single regime on all operators, thereby reducing significantly their costs and deadlines. The EU and the US are mutually each other's main partner in terms of air cargo with a volume of merchandise representing around 100 billion euros per year.

The members of the Budgets Committee at the European Parliament approved the EU's allocation for the "Project Bonds" on 31st May. Totalling 230 million euros, it will enable the support of massive investments in infrastructures, notably transport, energy and communication. Transport will receive the greater share with 200 million euros. The entire measure will be managed by the European Investment Bank. The final vote in plenary session will take place in July.

On the occasion of a Council devoted to trade on 31st May the 27 Member States approved the signature of the free-trade agreement between the EU-Colombia-Peru. Bolivia and Ecuador might join it later. They also adopted a decision enabling the European Commission to start negotiations in view of such an agreement with Vietnam. Ministers also approved the continuation of negotiations in view of a concluding such agreements with Japan and Canada. The Cypriot delegation finally indicated that in its upcoming presidency it intended to promote the role of international trade in growth and to support the environmental trade of goods, notably starting negotiations in view of bilateral agreements to do away with tarif and technical obstacles.

On 29th May the 27 European Affairs Ministers looked into the Multiannual Financial Framework covering the period 2014-2020 on the basis of a negotiation framework, which, for the first time covers all aspects of the MFF, both from the point of view of spending to revenues. They welcomed the work achieved by the Danish presidency, which enables the continuation of discussions on a sound base. They also recalled the future MFF should stimulate employment, growth and investments. They concluded that the quality of spending had to be improved, which did not necessarily mean spending less but which does not impede budgetary consolidation.

On 29th May the 5th consultative meeting took place between the Political and Security Committee of the EU and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union. In a context of continued instability in the Horn of Africa and a serious political crisis they said that the present ongoing process in Somalia was the most adapted to re-establish peace. The Union recalled that it supported the African Union in ending the conflict in Sudan and South Sudan, but it also condemned the coups d'état in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. The two entities ended this meeting by agreeing on the continuation of their cooperation especially in the area of the fight against terrorism.

During the EU-Russia Summit on 3rd and 4th June the EU and Russia discussed the Syrian issue in spite of their differences over how to prevent civil war in Syria. Both believe that the plan of international emissary, Kofi Annan, is the best means to achieve a settlement, declared the President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy. "We have to work towards an immediate halt to all types of violence in Syria and to a political transition process," he said. Mr Putin, whose country is the mainstay to the Syrian regime and who refused in Paris and Berlin to change his stance, did not react, notably on the mention of "transition policy", ie the departure of Bashar Al-Assad. "We have discussed the most important international issues. Of course this means the situation in Syria, Iran and in the Near East. I would like to stress that discussions were productive."

On the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the heads of government of the 11 states of the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Russia) met on 30th and 31st May in Straslund. During this the 9th Summit they notably decided to launch various pilot budgetary support projects covering the period 2013-2015 in order to increase the region's competitiveness and attractiveness. Energy and demography were also the focus of discussion. The foundations for closer cooperation in the area of energy has been laid. The heads of government insisted on the importance of monitoring the impact of demographic change on economic activity.

According to an estimate published by Eurostat on 31st May the annual euro zone inflation rate dropped in May 2012, to lie at 2.4% whilst it lay at 2.6% in April 2012. It is the 18 consecutive month that the rate has been over the 2% threshold established by the European Central Bank. In spite of this slightly negative point, the decrease has been greater than expected by specialists.

According to figures published on June 1st by Eurostat the goods trade between the EU and Russia increased significantly in 2010 and 2011, after a sharp reduction in 2009. EU exports towards Russia increased by 108 billion euros in 2011 and imports rose to 199 billion. The trade deficit lay at 91 billion euros in 2011. Regarding the Member States, Germany is the leading export state with 34 billion euros (34% of exports), then Italy with 9% and France 7%. Generally 85% of Union exports to Russia involved manufactured goods, whilst energy represents over three quarters of imports.

The 19th issue of the review "Sécurité globale" has just been published. Entitled "L'Europe des insécurités" - it looks into the various types of threat that the EU has to face and the policies that aim to counter them. The various chapters look into the issue of drugs trafficking and the EU's internal security policy.

The Tate Modern Gallery is presenting a selection of work by Damien Hirst until 9th September. The collections on show include sculptures that belong to the "Natural History" series, showcases, pharmaceutical cabinets and paintings made from matierals that are out of the ordinary.

Until 17th September the Bonnard Museum in Le Cannet is organising an the exhibition of more than fifty works devoted to the relations entertained by Pierre Bonnard and the major painters of his time such as Vuillard, Monet, Matisse and Manguin. Bonnard's works, and also paintings by these artists, who were all his friends, are contrasted against one another. The exhibition focuses on three themes that were common to all of the artists: portraits, Normandy, windows.

Until 30th June it is Molière Month in Versailles. As part of this event more than 300 open air shows will be performed. This will include musical shows, dances and theatre plays (including some works by classical authors like Molière or Beaumarchais) being performed at a variety of sites spread across the town. Access to most of these shows will be free of charge.

Until 10th June Cluj-Napoca (Romania) is hosting the 11th Transylvanian International Film Festival. Organised by the "Romanian Film Promotion" association, the biggest film festival in Romania offers more than 200 films every year in all types of category. Many other special events such as concerts, first-showings, workshops and exhibitions are organised as part of this cinematographic event. Sibiu will then open its doors to TIFF from 13th to 17th June.