On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of Robert Schuman the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a conference together with the General Council of Moselle on "Franco-German outlook for the EU" on 21st November 2013 at 5pm at the Robert Schuman House in Scy-Chazelles. Doris Pack and Nathalie Griesback MEPs as well as Bernard de Montferrand, former Ambassador of France in Germany and Ronja Kempin, Research Director at SWP, will be taking part in the debate. It is obligatory to enrol: info@robert-schuman.eu

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The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation Jean-Dominique Giuliani signed an article in Le Figaro on 7th November 2013 "For a two-tiered Europe". Twenty years after the entry into force of the Maastricht treaty Jean-Dominique Giuliani believes that the European institutions, which are extremely flawed, cannot remain as they are. In his opinion "the paths for European recovery necessarily imply variable geometry which would enable a lifting of taboos on issues which cause problems." He believes that France and Germany must take "the initiative for recovery for example".

The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani will be taking part in a debate in Marseilles, European Capital of Culture on 15th November 2013 on the theme of "Comment imaginer l'Europe de demain?" (Imagining Tomorrow's Europe).

According to a press released by the Labour Minister on 5th November 2013 the number of people registered out of work in Spain continued to rise in October for the second month running to 4.81 million. The country recorded 87,028 more unemployed over one month. Over one year unemployment has declined however. The Employment Ministry is pleased "that there has been an annual reduction in unemployment for the first time since May 2007."

On 7th November 2013 Cyprus's international creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund indicated that the country was meeting the targets set out in the rescue plan. After a week's audit from 29th October to 7th November 2013 they concluded that the "programme was on track" and opened the way to a new tranche of loans. The troika welcomed the "major progress" made by Cyprus "toward the recapitalization and restructuring of the financial sector."

On 4th November 2013 the Italian Statistics Institute (ISTAT) published its economic forecasts for 2014. According to data the Italian GDP, after contracting by 1.8% at the end of 2013, it is now due to rise by 0.7% in 2014 thanks to an increase in both domestic and foreign demand. However the unemployment rate which totalled 12.1% in 2013 is due to rise and total 12.4% in 2014. This increase is linked to delayed adjustments in the labour market in line with the economy.

According to a press release by the Portuguese Statistics Institute (INE) published on 7th November 2013 the Portuguese unemployment rate is due to total 15.6% in the third quarter of 2013 which means a reduction of 0.2% in comparison with the same quarter in 2012 and 0.8 points in comparison with the second quarter of 2013.

On 7th November 2013 the ratings agency Standard and Poor's took France's financial rating down a notch to AA against a previous AA+. In a press release it deems that the country's fiscal room to manoeuvre is restricted and it criticises the effectiveness of the policy being implemented. "We believe that the economic policy measures implemented since 23rd November 2012 have not reduced the risk of unemployment remaining over 10% until 2016," stressed the agency. Moreover it explains that "the present level of unemployment is undermining popular support for further structural and sectoral reform and is affecting long term growth prospects." On 12th November the Bank of France indicated that France's GDP will growth by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

On 5th November 2013 the European Commission published its economic forecasts for the period 2013-2015 when economic recovery might be a possibility even though several external risks persist. The recession was present until the first quarter of 2013 but since the second quarter of this year economic recovery has started. The Commission believes that growth will intensify and total 1.4% in the Union and 1.1% in the euro zone in 2014, then 1.9% and 1.7% respectively in 2015. The Member States are continuing with the internal and external adjustment policies via major structural reforms and budgetary consolidation measures which are fostering better conditions for growth in Europe.

On 4th November 2013 the European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs announced that the EU was going to increase its support to the Sahel by granting Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Chad five billion euro so that these countries can rise to national and regional challenges and for them to guarantee security, stability, the rule of Law, local service provision, food safety and even regional integration. The Commission's decision still has to be approved by the European Council and the European Parliament.

The directive facilitating the cross-border exchange of information regarding road saftey infringements entered into force on 7th November 2013 in the EU - excluding the UK, Ireland and Denmark. The directive aims for car drivers from 25 Member States, signatories of the directive, to be subject to prosecution in his home state if he infringes one of the eight rules stipulated in the text (speeding, driving without a safety belt, ignoring a red light, drunk driving and the illegal use of a telephone).

The group of six (Germany, China, USA, France, UK, and Russia) met Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif in Geneva. The EU's High Representative Catherine Ashton moderated the negotiations. It was the second round of talks since the election of the Iranian president Hassan Rohani. No historic agreement was concluded in spite of hopes expressed at the start of this session. The stumbling blocks were: uranium storage, the Arak reactor, and nuclear enrichment generally. "Some real progress was made but some disagreements persist," concluded Catherine Ashton and Javad Zarif after the meeting. A third round of talks was planned for 20th and 21st November next.

According to figures published on 8th November 2013 by the German statistics agency Destatis, the German trade surplus continued to rise in September 2013 by 3.6% to reach a new record of 20.4 billion euro.

The Bishops of France who met in plenary assembly on 7th November 2013 are alarmed about at "euroscepticism and abstention which are increasingly a threat" as the European elections draw closer. "Wake up!" declared Monseigneur Jean-Pierre Grallet - Archbishop of Strasbourg "'We should not forget that after two bloody wars and its division into two opposing blocks that Europe has been beneficial, peace has been a daily event." In his opinion "we are behaving like spoilt children, like adolescents suffering a crisis of ingratitude and irresponsibility." Monseigneur Grallet who is also a delegate of the Bishops Conference of France at the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (Comece) will be attending its plenary session next week where he hopes for a joint declaration on the part of European bishops.

On 12th November 2013 24 heads of State and government (except for Luxembourg, Malta, Czech Republic and the UK) the main leaders of the European institutions (H.v Rompuy, J.M Barroso, M. Schulz) and social partners met in Paris for a conference on youth employment which follows the first organised in Berlin by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 3rd July last. All highlighted the need to "move quickly" to reduce unemployment amongst the under 25's, who now total 6 million in Europe. "The future of a generation is at stake which has been affected by unemployment for many years," and which is "experiencing doubt and despair" said French President F. Hollande. The President of the European Commission JM Barroso said that "financing mainly depended on the Member States". "We need real action, and results very quickly," he explained. "Policy does not create jobs, businesses do" insisted Chancellor A Merkel. In all around 45 billion euro will be mobilised over the next three years in support of youth employment.

On 5th November 2013 Eurostat indicated that in 2012 the number of air passengers had risen (+0.7%) in comparison with 2011 and totalled 827 million in the EU. In comparison with a dip in 2009 following the financial crisis, air passenger transport has increased by 10% but only by 3.6% in comparison with 2008. Countries with the highest rise in air passenger numbers are Lithuania (+17.6%) and Estonia (+15.5%), whilst Slovenia (-14.1%) and Slovakia (-13.5%) have experienced the greatest decreases. EU Member States with the greatest number of air passengers are the UK (203 million), Germany (179 million), Spain (160 million), France (135 million) and Italy (116 million).

The French Institute for International Relations (Ifri) has published a study by Henrik Uterwedde, Deputy Director of the Deutsch-Franzözishces Institut in Ludwigsburg which analyses perspectives of the French and German economic policies. According to the author there are some problems with the German successes and that beyond its weaknesses the French economy also has strong points. The author advocates new economic convergence within the euro zone.

The Centre for European Reform has published a report entitled ""How to build a modern European Union?". In this report experts put forward a series of reforms to bring the Union out of ths political, social and economic crisis in which it is now plunged. The report suggests that the European population's pessimism does not just come from the euro zone but that it is linked to European political sluggishness which needs reform.

As part of the commemoration of the First World War the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn is running an exhibition until 23rd February on pre-1914 works of art. This exhibition entitled "1914-the avant-guards at war" reveals a series of pre-1914 paintings finalised just before the start of the first world war. It shows artists' response to this turbulence which marked the work of Klee, Picasso; Schiele, Kandinsky, Macke and many others.

The city of Rome is organising its 8th international film festival until 17th November 2013. Films in competition will be presented in seven halls of the Parcol della Muscia Auditorium. At the same time the Rome Cinema Foundation will be showing films by Federico Fellini at the "Cinema Barberini" in the Via Veneto. This year it will be the 20th anniversary of his death.

The Franco-German TV channel is offering a new programme called "Writers' Europe" until 4th December 2013. This programme presents a European country by way of one or several native writers every Wednesday as of 10:20pm. Gradually a mosaic of Europe will be drawn up using unique archive material. The first episode will be broadcast on 6th November 2013 the first. It is devoted to Ireland with four national writers. The next programmes will be devoted to Italy, England, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Turkey, Iceland, Sweden and Portugal.