As part of the partnership between the Robert Schuman Foundation and the Audiovisuel extérieur de la France (AEF), the Foundation is broadcasting the most recent programme "Talking Europe" on its site, whose guest was Alain Lamassoure, the President of the European Parliament's Budgets Committee. Engaged in full battle for the EU's resources, he is defending an envelope of 1000 billion euros for 2014-2020, and is trying to save the university exchange programme, Erasmus. He is interviewed by Jean-Paul Betbèze, a member of the Foundation's Scientific Committee.

The economic sentiment indicator declined by 0.7 points in October 2012 in the euro zone ie 84.5 points but remained stable for the entire EU at 86.2 points. This indicator reflects economic growth prospects on the basis of surveys undertaken in industries, businesses and amongst consumers. In October consumer confidence remained stable in the EU. Moreover the decline recorded in industries and in the construction sector was compensated for by a rise in the services and retail trade sectors. This indicator has undergone significant variations amongst the Member States: it declined most in Poland (-2.8) in France (-1.8) and in Germany (-1.4) whilst it has recovered in the UK (+5.2) Spain (+1.8), in the Netherlands (+0.8) and in Italy (+0.5).

At the inauguration of the Asia-Europe Summit in Vientiane on 5th November the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy warned Asian countries against the temptation of protectionism, declaring that trade was one of the keys to world growth. "Not only does promoting trade foster domestic demand it also prevents protectionism. We are confident that our Asian partners will remain loyal to open economies and commonly accepted world trade rules." "We do not deny that growth prospects in Europe are not brilliant at the moment. But I think that Asian leaders have all understood the message that strong commitment with the European Union will be beneficial long term," he added.

On 30th October 2012 the Cypriot Presidency of the European Union submitted a counter proposal for the European budget covering the period 2014-2020 with the aim of reducing the European Commission's requests by "at least 50 billion euros", which was immediately rejected. In a press release the latter clearly stated that it did not support this counter proposal believing that in this time of crisis the EU's budget should be a "tool for investment in growth and employment". It put a draft budget forward in July 2012 of 1,033 billion euros for the period 2014-2020 which implied an increase of nearly 5% in comparison with the previous period 2007-2013. But it's proposal was rejected by seven countries including the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Austria. These disagreements have led to the announcement of a difficult exceptional European summit on 22nd and 23rd November in Brussels.

On 29th October 2012 the 27 European Transport Ministers adopted a joint approach to the refounding of the time slot allocation system in European airports. They also adopted a joint approach on the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention written by the ILO and on a new regulation involving the use of tachographs, the instruments that are designed to measure the activity of road vehicles. They discussed possible joint rules on the testing of vehicles in Europe. Finally the launch of a single European railway area was approved.

In a report published on 30th October 2012 the European Court of Auditors criticised a lack of results in terms of the financial aid granted by the EU to Kosovo and notably regarding the Eulex programme, which provides assistance to the implementation of the rule of law in the country. Although the European funds devoted to civilian missions are the highest per capita in the world these programmes have only led to modest successes said the Court. Between 1999 and 2011 Kosovo had received 4.7 billion euros in financial aid to strengthen the rule of law and to implement an effective legal system and police force. The court also said that crime and corruption are still a problem today. It also criticises the low quality of the staff sent by the Member States as well as the time they were spending in their positions.

During his visit to Berlin on 31st October 2012 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan spoke with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel of continuing his country's membership process to the EU. Discussions that started in 2005 are stalling mainly because of the Cypriot issue, an EU Member State. The Turkish Prime Minister also asked the German Chancellor for help given the influx of Syrian refugees (100,000) who are fleeing their country. One thousand Germans rallied to protest against the arrival of Erdogan, given the human rights infringements in Turkey.

On 31st October 2012 the Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev announced in a press release that a referendum on nuclear energy in Bulgaria will take place on 27th January 2013. This decision comes one week after the Bulgarian parliament's vote on the issue: "Should Bulgaria develop nuclear energy via the construction of a new power plant?" It will be the first referendum in post-Communist Bulgaria's history. Just six months from the general elections it will also be a test for the Prime Minister, Boiko Borissov's party and for the socialist opposition which rallied nearly 540,000 signatures to demand this referendum.

On 29th October 2012, on the occasion of the 17th bilateral Spain/Italy Summit in Madrid, with his Italian counterpart, Mario Monti, the head of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy stressed "Spain and Italy's commitment to maintain Greece in the euro zone". "Our commitment towards the euro is unshakeable and we shall adopt all the necessary measures to guarantee its stability and its irreversability," they declared. In a joint declaration they also set out details of a privileged cooperation policy implemented in terms of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Security.

Estonia and Russia have re-initiated negotiations on their border, announced the head of the Estonian diplomacy on 31st October after a seven year break based on historic disputes. "Consultations over the border that were re-opened in Moscow were constructive. We hope that we shall come to a reciprocal agreement; a satisfactory border treaty for both countries," declared Urmas Paet in a press release. "These consultations will continue. It has been decided that further talks will take place before the end of the year," he added.

On 29th October 2012 French President François Hollande, Culture Minister, Aurélie Filippetti and Delegate Minister for SME's Fleur Pellerin, met the CEO of Google Monde, Eric Schmidt. The French President stressed the importance of the development of the ditigal economy called for an adaptation in terms of taxation. He said he wanted talks to start and conclude rapidly between Google and media editors before the end of 2012 over a possible "Google tax". This meeting comes after the Chair of the National IT and Liberties Committee (CNIL) Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin called on Google to review its confidentiality rules on 16th October 2012. The Robert Schuman Foundation has published a European Issue on this theme.

According to the draft budget 2013 presented on 31st October 2012 to parliament, Greece will experience budgetary deficit, debt and greater recession than previously anticipated. The project was presented on 1st October 2012 and forecast a deficit and debt of 4.2% and 179.3% of the GDP and also a GDP contraction 3.8% respectively. But it seems that the deficit and debt figures will lie at 5.2% (9.4 billion euros) and 189.1% (346.2 billion euros) of the GDP whilst this will contract by 4.5%. On 1st November 2012 this draft budget was deemed anti-constitutional by all of the judges in the Court of Auditors because of certain measures being taken on salaries and pensions.

The Italian government adopted a bill on 31st October 2012 which does away with dozens of Italian provinces in a bid to make savings in terms of political and administrative costs. Italy has 20 regions five of which have a special status enjoying a great degree of autonomy; the law only concerns the provinces of 15 regions which enjoy an ordinary status, the others will be included in another document. "The number of provinces in the ordinary regions will drop from 86 to 51, including metropolitan towns," said the press release after the Council of Ministers. "As of 1st January 2014 the metropolitan towns which replace the provinces in the country's main urban centres will become operational." The provincial governments will be dissolved as of 1st January 2013. For a year the provinical presidents will be helped by three advisors and as of 1st January 2014 the provinces in question will no longer exist.

On 5th November 2012 the Dutch government led by Mark Rutte was sworn in before Queen Beatrix. The new coalition government VVD-PvdA comprises thirteen ministers including five women and 7 secretaries of State, two of whom are women. The government agreement anticipates austerity measures to save 16 billion euros by 2017 in order to bring public finances back into balance.

On 1st November 2012 the British Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg attacked David Cameron over his project to use the euro zone crisis to try and repatriate certain powers. He describes this project as a "false promise wrapped in a Union Jack". He is notably against the Prime Minister's plan to use the opt-out clause on nearly 130 European measures, including the European Arrest Warrant and then to re-integrate a smaller number. He also re-iterated his support for the government coalition's plan to negotiate the freezing of the EU budget 2014-2020.

On 30th and 31st October the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the Security Policy, Catherine Ashton travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. They expressed their support to the principle of these three States joining the EU, whilst recalling the work they still had to deploy with this in view. As far as Bosnia was concerned it meant stabilising the country's situation, whilst Serbia and Kosovo had to normalise their relations. They did say that this did not necessarily mean Serbia acknowledging Kosovo's independence.

On 3rd November 2012 Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the Security Policy, along with Stefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy expressed their concern about the fact that the general election results of 28th October have not been published. They are urging the "authorities and all parties involved to take the necessary steps," to publish the final results, "which must reflect the true will of the Ukrainian people". They also stressed the importance of taking complaints on board "with the celerity and respect of rules and procedures." Moreover 2000 demonstrators rallied before the Central Electoral Commission on 5th November 2012 in protest against electoral fraud.

On 29th and 30th October 2012 the heads of five international economic organisations (OECD, IMF, WTO, World Bank and ILO) met the French President François Hollande, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the OECD. During these two meetings they reviewed the state of the world and the European economy, the challenges that they are facing and the measures to take to revive confidence, growth and employment.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 31st October 2012 the unemployment rate in September totalled 11.6% in the euro zone and 10.6% in the EU. Nearly 26 million European citizens are unemployed 5 million of whom are under 25. Although the unemployment rate has decreased significantly in the Baltic States, it has however risen beyond 25% in Spain and Greece.

The Foundation for International Relations and External Dialogue (FRIDE) has published a study entitled "European Commercial Diplomacy: the hunt for growth". The author shows how the financial and economic crisis has strengthened competitiveness between Member States in their bilateral trade relations. This new approach is occurring to the detriment of a community trade approach.

Until 25th November 2012 the Photography Museum in Stockholm is presenting the portraits of human rights militants from the world over in an exhibition entitled "Speak Truth to Power". Familiar names, like the Dalai Lama, feature amongst them but most are unknown beyond their national borders.