On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, the "I want Europe" initiative in partnership with the Robert Schuman Foundation and other think-tanks are organising a conference "Franco-German friendship, the motor of European integration" on 23rd January with Jacques Barrot, member of the Constitutuional Council, member of the Administrative Board of the Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, Chair of the Foundation, Philippe Herzog, Confrontations Europe and Dominique Moïsi IFRI in attendance. A forum on Europe rallying the associations and institutes taking part in the initiative will take place on the same day. Entry is free of charge.

The first round of the Cypriot Presidential election will take place on 17th February next. Although 11 people are running in this election three candidates stand out from the rest: Nicos Anastassiades, leader of the Democratic Assembly (DISY) ; former Healthcare Minister (2011-2012), Stavros Malas, member of the Progressive Workers' Party (AKEL) and former Foreign Minister (2006-2007), George Lilikas, supported by the Social Democratic Movement (EDEK) led byYiannakis Omirou. Outgoing Head of State, Demetris Christofias (AKEL), Head of State since the election of 17th and 24th February 2008 indicated in May last that he did not want to run for a second mandate. He is the first President of the Cypriot Republic not to run for a second term. If none of the candidates win the absolute majority on 17th February a second round of voting will take place on 24th February.

Several books have just been published on the occasion of the 50th annivesary of the Elysée Treaty. The Docmentation Française has published a paper by Cécile Calla and Claire Demesmay entitled "Que reste-t-il du couple franco-allemand?" in the series "Réflexe Europe". The authors explain that although the Franco-German couple was the motor of European integration after the Second World War, it can no longer be considered as such. Bordeaux University Press has published a paper entitled "Les relations franco-allemandes dans une Europe unifiée. Réalisations et défis" as part of their series "Perspectives européennes", managed by Hans Stark, Martin Koopmann and Joachim Schild. This collection reviews Franco-German relations over the last two decades.

On 16th January 2013 the IMF approved the payment of an aid tranche to Portugal totalling 838.8 million euros as part of the rescue plan of 78 billion euros decided upon by the international community in May 2011. The IMF's greenlight brings the total aid paid to date by the institution to Portugal to 22.16 billion euros. Moreover on 15th January 2013 the Bank of Portugal reviewed its economic forecasts for 2013 downwards - counting on a GDP contraction of 1.9% in comparison with 1.6% in its previous estimates. This contraction in the economy can notably be explained by the severe austerity measures implemented by the country, by slower world growth that is impeding export demand and also by declining domestic consumption.

Since 19th January 2013 the new European driving licence has been in force. This licence, which looks like a credit card and bears a number of security details, will progressively replace the hundred or so existing licences in the EU. This step forward goes together with harmonised measures for the administrative modernisation of the licence and a minimum common base for the training of instructors. These measures should help to counter false licences and step up road safety more effectively.

On 17th January MEPs approved an interim agreement for an economic agreement with Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Zimbabwe. This agreement anticipates the lifting of EU duties and contingencies affecting exports by these four countries, mainly coffee, sugarcane and tobacco. In exchange these countries are promising to open their markets to European exports over the next 15 years.

On 17th January 2013 the 27 Foreign Ministers approved the launch of a European mission in Mali in line with the resolutions 2071 and 2085 of the UN Security Council. This mission named "EUTM" is to ensure the military training of the Malian armed forces in terms of command, control, logistics, human resources and civilian protection. Ministers appointed the General of the French Brigade, François Lecointre as Commander of the EUTM Missioni. The budget will extend over 15 months totalling 12.3 million euros. Hence 450 trainers and instructors from 10 EU Member States will be deployed. The Ministers said they supported the deployment of the international mission in Mali (AFISMA) on the inititiave of the African Union and the ECOWAS.

According to figures published on 17th January 2013 the European Patents Office registered a record number of patent applications in 2012 - the total rose to 258,000 in comparison with 244,000 in 2011 - ie an increase of 6%. Nearly two thirds of these applications were made on the part of non-Europeans; Japan, China and South Korea made half of the applications. The USA retained firstplace with nearly 64,000 applications. Germany came third, France 6th and the UK 8th. The increase in the number of applications which involves all countries reveals both a great capacity for innovation and a desire to protect inventions on the European market.

On 16th January 2013 the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) announced an increase in the number of inhabitants in the Federal Republic in 2012 for the second year running. The low birthrate has not disappeared as a problem but it has been compensated for by immigration. Thanks to this the country had around 200,000 people more at the end of the year. Germany has around 82 million inhabitants. The German government is pleased with this development since the influx of foreigners will help to slow the effects of the ageing German population.

On 20th January 2013 59.8% Austrians voted in a referendum in support of the upkeep of obligatory military service. The Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann "noted this result" which "he has to respect" and indicated that his government would proceed to a reform of the army "but as part of the military service".

On 17th January 2013 Paul Magnette, the Belgian State Companies, Scientific Policy Cooperation and Development Minister resigned in respect of his promise to become the Burgermeister of Charleroi. Jean-Pascal Labille, former CEO of the Socialist Mutuality Insurances replaced him in the government as the Minister for State Companies, Cooperation and Development. Philippe Courard, Secretary of State for Social Affairs, Families and Handicapped People, responsible for Professional Risks is responsible now for Scientific Policy.

On 17th January 2013, after a unanimous vote by the National Assembly, the French Parliament adopted Croatia's accession treaty to the EU. The Senate approved the treaty on 15th January. On July 1st Croatia will become the 28th Member State of the European Union.

On 21st January 2013 the euro zone Finance Ministers met within the Eurogroup and elected their Dutch counterpart, Jeroen Dijsselbloem as the successor to Jean-Claude Juncker. The President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, paid tribute to the latter who was the first Eurogroup chair and who led it at the height of the crisis.

Following the incident in Algeria in which some Britons were killed Prime Minister David Cameron decided on 17th January 2013 to delay his speech on his country's renegotiaion of relations with the EU, which was initially planned for 18th January in Amsterdam. The Prime Minister's office did however release some excerpts of the speech in which Mr Cameron says that the "UK might move towards exiting the EU if reform did not take place." The British Prime Minister explains that he sees three challenges for the Union: the euro zone crisis, the lack of competitiveness in the face of emerging countries and above all the gulf that has grown between the EU and its citizens over the last few years. The speech was delayed to 23rd January in London.

On 14th January 2013 the Icelandic government announced that part of the negotiations which condition its entry into the EU had been suspended. This decision was justified by the run-up to the general elections that are to take place on 27th April next. The prospect of these elections may bring a eurosceptic government to power and has pushed the majority to suspend the most difficult subjects in the negotiations, which notably focus on agriculture and fisheries.

On 17th January 2013 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Ukraine to pay an overall fine of 425,000 euros for the poor treatment of 17 prisoners. The affair involved the treatment of a group of prisoners in January 2007 in the prison of Izyaslav during and after a search and security operation that aimed to punish them for their political hungerstrike. The Court qualified the violence inflicted on the prisoners as "serious". On the basis of article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights ("no one should be subject to torture nor inhuman or degrading treatment") the judges condemned Ukraine to pay 25,000 euros to each of the prisoners.

On 17th January 2013 Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier announced that the company's 2012's goals had been surpassed. Airbus, a European company delivered 588 planes to 89 clients and had surpassed its goal of 650 orders, claiming a total of 914 gross orders.

On 16th January 2013 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a partnership for a pilotless flight around the moon in 2017, the first stage in promising international cooperation for the exploration of space. As part of this agreement the European ATV (Automatic Transfer Vehicle) will be modified to become a service module of the American Spaceship Orion designed to transport astronauts towards an asteroid and Mars in the 2030's.

According to figures published on 16th January 2013 by Eurostat the annual inflation rate in December 2012 remained stable in the euro zone at 2.2% and declined in the EU to 2.3% in comparison with the previous month. Greece had the lowest rate at 0.3% whilst it rose to above 5% in Hungary. Inflation is tending to rise in the main due to alcoholic drinks , tobacco, housing, foodstuffs and education (3% at least) and is declining in the area of communications (by nearly -4%).

In an article published by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and the European Policy Centre, Kristi Raik and Rosa Balfour look into the emergence of a European Foreign Policy in the 21st century. The decline of traditional diplomacy and financial constraints associated to the crisis limit the capabilities of national diplomatic services. The authors insist on the need to take advantage of the Lisbon Treaty to place the European External Action Service at the heart of the global European diplomatic system and to turn it into a structure with its own dynamic.

On 19th and 20th January 2013 the celebrations linked to the appointment of the town of Kosice as "European Capital of Culture 2013", were launched - one week after the inauguration of events in Marseilles. The inauguration ceremonies, with fireworks and a great number of internationally renowned artists, referred to the industrial past of Kosice, Slovakia's second most important town. Nearly 200 cultural events are being organised in 2013 in 70 places around the town and its environs.