On 24th March 2014 the Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation Jean-Dominique Giuliani will be debating alongside Thomas Mann (MEP) and Frank Baasner (Director of the Franco- German Institute of Ludwigsburg) about the European elections. The discussion will focus on the theme European Elections: has the nationalists' hour come? This debate, organised by the Franco-German Society, will take place in Frankfurt-am-Main.

On 12th March 2014 the European and International Affairs Section of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council auditioned Robert Schuman Foundation Chairman, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, on the theme of "The European Union at a Crossroads?"

Prime Minister Robert Fico (Direction-Social Democracy, SMER-SD) came out ahead in the first round of the presidential election in Slovakia on 15th March with 28.01% of the vote, ahead of Andrej Kiska who won 24.01%. The two men will face each other in the second round on 29th March. Radoslav Prochazka came third with 21.25%, followed by Milan Knazko, 12.87%, Gyula Bardos 5.11%, Pavel Hrusovsky 3.33% and Helena Mezenska 2.38%. The seven other candidates won less than 1% of the vote. Turnout lay at 43.4%. A poll by Focus before the first round credited 53.7% of the vote to Andrej Kiska and 46.3% to Robert Fico in the second round if they faced each other.

According to an Interim Economic Assessment by the OECD recovery is continuing in the G7 countries - but the situation is contrasted in the emerging countries. The OECD notes that recovery is clear in the UK whilst it is unequal across the euro zone. According to the OECD, the UK is due to record economic growth of 3% in the first and second quarters of 2014. The French, German, Italian economies are due to record average growth of 1.9% in the first quarter and 1.4% in the second. According to the OECD Germany is due to experience economic growth of 3.7% on an annual basis in the first quarter and 2.5% in the second, whilst the annual growth rate of the French economy is due to be around 1% and that of Italy will remain below 1% in the first and second quarters.

On 10th March 2014 the 18 euro zone Ministers welcomed the progress achieved by Cyprus. However they noted that the island's economic outlook was uncertain and that the rigorous continuation of the troika bail-out (European Commission, ECB, IMF) was vital for Cyprus to be able to emerge from the crisis. This progress should help Cyprus take advantage of 150 million euro in the European Stability Mechanism and 86 million euro from the IMF. They also reviewed the economic situation in Portugal, which they say has made progress and is on the right path.

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi maintained on 13th March 2014 that all "material" risk of inflation would be "countered". In a speech given in Vienna he declared that the "strengthening of the effective rate of exchange of the euro over the last year and a half (had) certainly had a major impact on our low inflation rate." Mario Draghi stressed: "the longer inflation remains low, the higher the probability of such risks emerging. That is why the ECB has been preparing additional non-standard monetary policy measures to guard against such a contingency" and is "ready for further action if necessary."

The ratings agency Moody's confirmed the EU's triple A on 14th March 2014. It also raised the Union's perspectives which have been negative since September 2012 to the status of "stable". This reflects the improvement in the perspectives of the Member States themselves (particularly Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain) and the recognition of the improvement in the situation of Portugal and Ireland, two countries which are now distancing themselves from default. 80.5% of the contributions to the EU budget come from countries with stable or positive perspectives whilst only 22% of them were in this situation in September 2012. Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK's stability will be decisive in terms of retaining this rating.

Spain's public debt ended the year 2013 at a new record high - 93.9% of the GDP, but this is still below the goal set by the government (94.1%), according to figures published on 14th March 2014 by the Bank of Spain. The debt of the euro zone's fourth most important economy has risen over the last few year whilst the country has been suffering the collapse of its real-estate bubble since 2008: at the end of 2012 the debt lay at 86% of the GDP whilst it only represented 36.3% in 2007.

On 11th March 2014 the European Commission adopted a new framework to counter systemic threats that might weigh over the rule of law in one of the 28 Member States. This framework plans for an early warning tool which will enable the Commission to start dialogue with the Member State in question in order to prevent any escalation in systemic threats to the rule of law.

On 14th March 2014 the end of the fourth round of negotiations for the free trade agreement between the EU and the USA (TTIP) came to an end. The two head negotiators Ignacio Garcia Bercero and Dan Mullaney were asked to explore the means to strengthen the attractiveness of this agreement for SME's. The delegations published a document to this end. Discussions also focused on market access (tariff barriers and public procurement), regulation (technical impediments and sanitary measures), as well as the framework definition of the discussion on energy and raw materials.

During a revision of EU legislation on data protection, MEPs adopted a draft bill on 12th March 2014 to improve digital age personal data protection rules following several scandals revealing the NSA's activities in Europe. The text adopted introduces stronger guarantees concerning the transfer European citizens' data towards non-European countries. New measures aim to provide European citizens with greater control over their personal data and enable businesses to work with greater ease beyond borders whilst guaranteeing that the same rules apply to all Member States.

The effective beneficiaries of businesses and trusts will have to be registered in the Member States according to a new anti-laundering directive approved by MEPs on 11th March 2014. The draft bill requires that banks, auditors, lawyers, real-estate agents and casinos, raise their guard in terms of their clients. The aim is to detect suspicious operations and to counter tax evasion. According to the anti-laundering directive, as amended by MEPs, central public registers will have to list information about legal entities' effective beneficiaries. These registers will be interconnected and "at the public's disposal after a prior identification of the person who wants to access information via on-line registration," stress MEPs. Parliament has introduced measures to protect private life and to guarantee that only vital information is presented on the register.

On 11th March 2014 MEPs adopted common standards for MOTs on vehicles. An agreement with the Member States on minimal common standards regarding MOTs on vehicles, licencing documents and road checks on utility vehicles were approved. European rules, updates to improve road safety will set new European standards in terms of MOTs, training and qualifications of inspectors. Moreover at least 5% of all utility vehicles in the EU will be subject to examination. Member States can, if they want to, impose stricter standards than those defined in the legislation. This agreement still has to be approved by the Council however before it can enter into force.

MEPs approved a draft bill to revise the directive on radio equipment that aims to harmonise mobile phone chargers - 550 votes in support, 12 against and 8 abstentions. MEPs believe that a single charger for all telephone brands should enable waste reduction, costs and problems caused to users.

The 28 European Transport, Environment and Energy Ministers agreed on 14th March 2014 on the general approach to responsibilities of the European Railways Agency as part of the fourth railway package. They also adopted a regulation for the public-private partnership to manage a research programme in view of improving rail services in Europe. They also adopted a regulation on freezing and confiscating criminally gained assets, the liberalisation of visas for Moldova as well as a revised version of the "tobacco" directive.

The 28 Foreign Ministers met on 17th March in the wake of the referendum organised in Crimea on 16th March. Following the results the ministers decided to set further sanctions on 21 Ukrainian and Russian personalities. They condemned this referendum qualifying it as illegal. It had taken place in the presence of the Russian military and therefore in a climate of intimidation. In addition to this international observers (OSCE and UN) were barred access. This was an infringement of Ukraine's territorial integrity and its sovereignty. Additional measures will be taken in the week. Moreover ministers addressed the EU's action in Africa, more specifically in Central African Republic, in the Gulf of Guinea and the Sahel, in South Sudan and West Africa. Regarding Central Africa the Council concluded that the EU intended to maintain its work there as part of an overall approach integrating action in the humanitarian, political areas, in terms of stabilisation and in support of development. Moreover the strategy for the Gulf of Guinea aims to assess the threat to the region, help local governments to guarantee security, the rule of law and economic development.

On 12th March the German Council of Ministers adopted the draft 2014 budget comprising measures for the 2015 budget and financial programming until 2018. As of 2014 the budget will be structurally balanced; as of 2015 there will be no further loans. According to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble "balanced budgets are guarantors of the future" which ensure "opportunities for growth and social balance."

Chrystalla Georghadji will be the new governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus as of 11th April 2014 following the resignation of Panicos Demetriades on 10th March. President Nicos Anastasiades informed the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi of this decision. Ms Georghadji will take office on 11th April.

On 16th March 2014 96.77% of voters answered that they supported the question "Are you in favour of Crimea's reunification with Russia according to the laws of the Federation of Russia?" To the question "Are you in favour of the re-establishment of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea of 1992 and for the status of Crimea as part of Ukraine?" - only 2.51% answered "yes". Nearly one and a half million were invited to vote on the future of Crimea. However some who were against any rapprochement with Moscow notably the members of the Tatar minority, boycotted the election. This result is being challenged by the international community. On 11th March representatives of the parliament of Crimea declared that the peninsula was independent of Ukraine 78 votes out of the 81 MPs present. Crimea officially asked for its annexation to Russia, which decided to give Crimea aid of 15 billion roubles - 295 million euros.

Arms imports into India are now nearly three times that of the second and third import countries - China and Pakistan - according to new data on international arms transfers published on 17th March by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In all, the volume of international transfers of traditional arms systems increased by 14% between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013.

The EU does not have a reliable mechanism to check on the justification of aid paid to farmers said the EU's Court of Auditors on 17th March 2014 in further criticism of the management of the CAP's funds. "The results of checks undertaken by the Member States on agricultural spending are not reliable," says a Court report, focusing on a period between 2010-2012. The Court notably criticises the funds paid to beneficiaries who do not undertake any agricultural activities or those which include unused land. However it is on this basis that checks undertaken nationally that the European Commission believes "there is a residual level of error that is supposed to account for the financial incidence of the irregularities," observed says the report.

The Konstantinos Karamanlis Foundation has published, with Patakis publishing the minutes of the seminar held on 27th and 28th March on the theme of "The Founders of European Integration". Speeches take us back to the end of the Second World War and the visions and strategies of the founders of European integration to overcome national antagonisms. The positions adopted by Schuman, Adenauer, Monnet, Spaak, de Gasperi and Karamanlis are analysed and brought into focus with one another. It is also an opportunity to re-read the speech "18 years old in 1950: the European destiny of a generation" by Jacques Rigaud, Deputy Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation who passed away in December 2012.

The documentation of the Centre for Information and Research on Modern Germany (CIRAC) has published "The Consensus Workshop, the Franco-German process of Communication and Decision," under the management of Claire Demesmay, Martin Koopman and Julien Thorel. The work reviews the role of the Franco-German couple in the management of the EU crisis laying out theme by theme aspects of economic and financial policy, foreign and security policy, energy and environmental policy, integration and deepening, European integration and the Franco-German couple. Among the contributors are several experts who write regularly for the Robert Schuman Foundation like Nicolas-Jean Brehon, Jean-François Jamet, Franck Lirzin and Maxime Lefebvre.

The National Gallery of London will be running an exhibition from 19th March and 15th June 2014 organised together with the Castelvecchio Museum of Verona on Venetian Renaissance painting and particularly the work of Veronese. The exhibition will bring together fifty paintings by the artist enabling a panorama of the decorative frescos of villas and palaces, major pieces of work, very small icons, works on mythology, allegorical and historical images and portraits.

The Max Ernst Museum in Brühl (Germany) is running an exhibition until 29th June 2014 entitled "Max Ernst - his eyes take everything in". Max Ernst (1891-1976) was a major 20th century artist known for his Surreal work. The exhibition reviews his artistic career and is showing his most important works alongside paintings by Robert Delaunay, August Macke, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse who influenced Max Ernst greatly.