On 16th January 2013 the Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani is taking part in a debate at the auditorium of the daily "Le Monde" on the theme of "France-Germany: a joint responsibility for Europe." He will be debating with Hubert Védrine, former French Foreign Minister, and Susanne Wasum-Rainer, Ambassador for Germany in Paris. It is obligatory to enrol.

On 15th January 2013 Radio France, together with Arte and ARD, are inviting you to a special day at Sciences Po in Paris from midday to 8pm to debate your experiences and proposals for the future of Europe and the Franco-German relationship. More than 26,000 people answered the survey "L'Allemagne, la France et vous?" supported by the Robert Schuman Foundation. The Foundation's General Director Pascale Joannin is speaking live on France Culture in the programme 'La Grande Table' from midday to 2pm. She will then be taking part in the round-table at 2:20pm on "Français et Allemands, une affection de raison?".

The Genreral Manager of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Pascale Joannin signed an article in the review, European View vol11 number 2 (December 2012). It is called "Women in Europe: more women in leading positions".

In an editorial published on his site, Jean-Dominique Giuliani describes the European dilemma suffered by British Prime Minister David Cameron, as he is faces populism English style.

Until 15th January 2013 the CIDAL (Centre d'information sur l'Allemagne) and the Goethe Institut in Paris are jointly presenting an exhibition "Pas de deux/Paarlauf" - the Franco-German friendship via the Caricature. The exhibition is in two parts. The first, presented at the Goethe-Institut, reviews fifty years of Franco-German history via drawings by famous French and German cartoonists. The second party, presented at the CIDAL shows work by young cartoonists who are offering a vision of the future: Franco-German Friendship - and in 50 years time?

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty Arte is devoting a special series of programmes to this historic event and to Franco-German relations between 15th and 22nd January 2013. On 15th January at 7:50pm Arte is having a "Thema" evening presenting the results of the survey "France, Germany and You?" undertaken by ARTE, Radio France and DeutschlandRadio and supported by the Robert Schuman Foundation.

The Franz Hessel Prize 2012 has been awarded to Andreas Maier for "Das Haus" (Suhrkamp Verlag 2011) and Eric Vuillard for "La Bataille d'Occident et Congo (Actes Sud, 2012). Awarded by a Franco-German jury, the prize aims to help revive literary and intellectual dialogue between the two countries. The award ceremony will take place on 21st January 2013 at the Allianz Forum in Berlin. The prize will be given by Bernd Neumann, the German Deputy Minister to the Federal Chancellor and by Aurélie Filipetti, the French Minister for Culture and Communication.

On 9th January 2013 the Italian statistics institute, Istat, published the public accounts figures for 2012. The public deficit in the third quarter lay at 1.8% of the GDP totalling 3.7% of the GDP over the first nine months of the year, ie 0.5 points less than in 2011. Notably thanks to better fiscal revenues Italy's public accounts indeed improved over the first nine months of 2012.

On 12th January the Greek parliament approved a draft law that aims to toughen up the tax regime on liberal professions, a prior condition for the continued payment of loans by the EU to Greece. The text was approved by 162 MPs of the tripartite coalition out of the 300 which sit in Parliament. An amendment also reforms the controversial regime of shipowners sailing under foreign flags. This is a prelude to a major reform in April and aims to refill the State's coffers reaping in around 2.5 billion euros in tax revenues in 2013 - it also plans for tax increases in the liberal professions who are the champions of tax evasion.

Unemployment levels rose in Poland in December to 13.3% of the working population compared to 12.9% in November and 12.5% in October announced the Labour Ministry on 7th January 2013. The number of unemployed at the end of December totalled 2.14 million according to an official press release. In all the number of unemployed increased by 155,000 during 2012.

An IMF report published recently should help the Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho's project to reduce public spending by 4 billion euros over the next two years thanks to a reform of the State. Drafted with the World Bank and the European Commission the IMF report recommends Portugal (under financial assistance) to reduce the number of some 700,00 civil servants by 20% whilst a 7% reduction in their wages would lead to savings of 760 million euro. These proposals immediately led to a wave of criticism on the part of the unions and the government hurriedly said that these were "suggestions and not decisions."

On 9th January 2013 Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Entrepreneurship presented an action plan that aims to support entrepreneurship, deemed to be the vital vector of growth revival. New businesses are also those which employ the most and therefore support employment. The "Entrepreneurship Action Plan 2020" anticipates measures for education and training, as well as action for certain specific segments of the population such as, youth and women. It also puts forward various financial and administrative simplifications.

On 10th January 2013 the European Commission unveiled its plan for the payment of some 661 million euros for humanitarian aid in 2013. According to this document the five most ambitious humanitarian operations will be deployed in the Sahel, Mali, Sudan and in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and in Somalia. Moreover the Commission will devote further financial means to "forgotten" populations such as in Algeria, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Colombia, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Yemen.

The European Commission announced on 10th January 2013 the launch of a new programme "CRIMGO" that aims to guarantee the safety of maritime routes crossing the Gulf of Guinea. This programme includes training sessions for coast-guards in seven African countries as well as the establishment of an information exchange system between them. According to the Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, the aim of this programme is to boost trade by making maritime transport safer. These routes are regularly disrupted by pirates and arms, drugs and human traffickers.

On 11th January 2013 the European Cybercrime Centre EC3 was inaugurated in the Hague, . This agency will notably be working with the EU's other police and legal agencies, as well as with it counterparts in the Member States and some third countries, notably the USA. The aim is to put an end to the "age of cybercriminals".

Following the request for help by the interim Malian President, Dioucounda Traoré, French President François Hollande declared on 11th January 2013 that the French armed forces would provide their support to Malian units to counter the terrorists. Their mission, in line with the UN Security Council resolutions, is to support the Malian army against terrorist attacks that are threatening West Africa. It comprises the preparation of the deployment of an African intervention force to enable Mali to recover all of its territory. The UK is to provide military logistics assistance to France during its intervention in Mali said Prime Minister D. Cameron on 12th January: "The Prime Minister has decided that the UK will provide military logistics assistance to help transport foreign troops and equipment rapidly to Mali.

The possible exit of the UK from the EU is worrying Europe and the rest of the world. On 9th January 2013 Phil Gordon, the US Secretary of State for European Affairs declared that the USA wanted the UK to remain in the EU and feared that its exit would go against American interests. This concern is also expressed in the UK itself. Hence in a letter sent on 9th January 2013 to the Financial Times, ten major British business leaders, including Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group and Chris Gibbson-Smith, CEO of the London Stock Exchange expressed their concern over the economic effects a possible British exit from the EU would have. This strategy would, in their opinion, be damaging for all British businesses exporting to the other EU countries and for the Union as a whole.

According to a survey published by Eurostat on 11th January 2013 more than 60% of businesses in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium say they undertake innovative activities in comparison with less than 30% in Bulgaria and Poland. More than one quarter of innovative companies undertook projects with partners in their own State whilst more than 10% of these businesses established cooperation agreements with organisations established in other member Member States or candidate countries.

Industrial output adjusted to seasonal variations decreased by 0.3% both in the euro zone and in the EU in November 2012 in comparison with October 2012, according to estimates published by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office on 14th January 2013. In October output declined by 1% and 0.8% respectively. In November 2012 in comparison with November 2011 industrial output declined by 3.7% in the euro zone and by 3.3% in the EU.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) delivered its report on 8th January 2013 on the global dangers facing the planet over the next few years. It emphasises that the world seems increasingly vulnerable notably due to financial crises and natural disasters. WEF experts say however that the dangers of the financial crisis will divert attention from "climate change, whilst extreme weather conditions are on the increase". The experts also point to a new phenomenon: "wild cyberfires", caused on the internet by events such as a "critical film about Islam on YouTube" and which lead to riots across the entire world. Finally another risk pointed to by the WEF is that of health. Experts are notably concerned about the spread of pandemics and increased resistance to antibiotics.

In an article published by the Collège d'Europe, Phedon Nicolaides looks into how financial engineering tools, such as guarantees and loans which are used increasingly by public authorities in support of business, can be included as State aid under European legislation. Two problems emerge however: it is not always possible to qualify nor to quantify public intervention which can however be considered as a traditional investment, the effects of which are hard to assess. The biggest Memer States have notably succeeded in using these instruments with the benediction of the European Commission.

The general reputation of pharmaceutical companies declined between 2011 and 2012 according to an independent study, "The corporate reputation of pharma in 2012: the patient perspective", undertaken by the patients' organisation PatientView. This organisation, which brings together 600 patient groups, focused on the reputation of 29 pharmaceutical businesses and the industry in general amongst patients. The study took place between November and December 2012. 34% of the 600 patient groups answered in 2012 that multinational pharmaceutical companies enjoyed an "excellent" or "good" reputation in comparison with 42% in 2011. 40% declared that the pharmaceutical industry's reputation had deteriorated in 2012. Nearly half of the 600 groups said that the industry's results were mediocre.

Former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki has published "1989 and beyond", an anthology of texts, speeches, interviews and sketches which present his political philosophy. Unique texts including an interview with Andrzej Urbanski for Polish television complete this work.

Argos publishing has recently released "Géopolitique des frontières européennes. Elargir jusqu'où?" by Pierre Verluise. This book which is illustrated with around 20 maps provides a geopolitical view of the borders of Europe. It offers clear answers to these questions: just how far does the European Union intend to enlarge? What relations does the EU have with the countries in the East which were once considered as enemies? How is it organising its relations with the South?

The Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen is devoting an exhibition to the artistic beginnings of Andy Warhol (1928-1987) and his 1950's drawings which were discovered after his death. The exhibition is entitled "Warhol-early drawings". There are over 250 drawings from the 1950's, most of which are on show for the first time in a museum. Warhol was inspired by films, photos, and fashion magazines. The exhibition is on until 21st February 2013.

The Gucci Museum in Florence is presenting the temporary exhibition "Cindy Sherman Early Works" until 9th June 2013. The first works by the photographer, acknowledged as being one of the most influential artists in contemporary art are, on show.