Is 2014 a turning point for Europe ? The European elections and the renewal of the all of the Union's political institutions offer an exceptional opportunity to analyse how the European Union is developing. These questions are the focus of the Schuman Report 2014, a yearly work of reference on Europe. This 8th edition includes an exclusive analysis by the French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who gives his view of European defence issues. This book, edited by Thierry Chopin and Michel Foucher, is published by Lignes de Repères. It is available in libraries and on the Foundation website in printed paper format and digital version (eReaders and tablets) in the next few days.

Outgoing head of state Gjorgji Ivanov (VMRO-DPMNE) easily came out ahead in the first round of the presidential election on 13th April in Macedonia. He won 51.63% of the vote ahead of Stevo Pendarovski (SDSM) who won 37.55%. Iljaz Halimi (PDA-PDSh) came third with 4.49%; Zoran Pospovski (GROM) won 3.61% of the vote. Although the outgoing president of the Republic Gjorgji Ivanov won the absolute majority, he only won 25.19% of the votes of those registered, which is far from the 50% +1 required by the electoral law to win in the first round. A second round will therefore be organised on 27th April at the same time as early general elections.

The candidates of Europe's two main political families (EPP and PES) running for the presidency of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, appeared in their first TV debate on 9th April 2014 organised by TV channel France24 and RFI radio. The two men acknowledged that the crisis was not over, that budgetary discipline was necessary, that one of the priorities should be youth employment, that access to loans by SMEs had to be facilitated and that Europe should fight to counter illegal immigration.

The OECD published its harmonised unemployment figures on 9th April 2014. The unemployment rate in the OECD zone was up by 0.1%, to 7.6% in February 2014 after three consecutive months of decline. Hence 46 million people are now unemployed. In the euro zone the unemployment rate was stable at 11.9% in February for the fifth consecutive month. Unemployment was up by 0.2% in the Netherlands (7.3%), and by 0.1% in France (10.4%) and Italy (13%) whilst it had fallen in Spain (25.6%) and Austria (4.8%) and the Republic of Slovakia (13.9%). The unemployment rate was stable in Germany (5.1%).

On 9th April 2014, the European Commission issued a proposal amending Directive 2007/36/EC regarding the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement and Directive 2013/34/EU regarding certain elements of the corporate governance statement. Against this background, the objective is to contribute to the long-term sustainability of EU companies, to create an attractive environment for shareholders and to enhance cross-border voting by improving the efficiency of the equity investment chain in order to contribute to growth, job creation and EU competitiveness.

On 14th April 2014, the 28 EU Ministers exchanged views on a report on the functioning of the fruit and vegetable sector since its reform in 2007. They discussed the legal base of the payment of a surplus tax that is due when quotas are exceeded. Moreover they progressed in terms of reforming the CAP as they accepted delegated regulations on the part of the Commission. They adopted directives on radio equipment in the internal market and on the widespread use of the electronic fragmentation in public procurement as part of the reform of the audit market. They also adopted a directive on fluorinated gases.

Following the resumption of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear question the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton declared on 9th April 2014 that a third round of negotiations had just been completed; the aim is to come to an overall agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue as planned in the Joint Action Plan. The aim is still to bring positions together as close as possible in order to start the drafting of a final document during the next meeting planned for May.

On 8th April 2014 the European Court of Justice declared the directive on the archiving of data invalid. According to the court the directive comprises major interference and is particularly serious in terms of the fundamental rights of the respect of private life and the protection of personal data without this interference being kept to the strict minimum. The directive on archiving data aims to harmonise Member States' measures on archiving certain types of data generated and processed by communications service providers that are accessible to the public or public communication networks.

German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz sold more cars than ever before in March 2014. In 158,523 vehicles were delivered to clients (+13.3%). "Since the start of the year we have recorded a monthly two-figure increase in sales rates," declared Ola Källenius, a member of Mercedes-Benz Cars executive board, responsible for sales. In Europe the company sold 76,587 vehicles in March (+7,6%) ; the UK was the main growth driver (+19.8%). In Germany, Mercedes-Benz, sold 25,544 cars and was again the top of the range name with the greatest number of vehicles being sent out on the road (+1.0%).

Chrystalla Georghadji took office on 10th April 2014 as the head of the Central Bank of Cyprus thereby becoming the first woman to occupy this type of post in the euro zone. She has the heavy task of bringing her country's banks out of the crisis. On the verge of bankruptcy due to the high exposure of its banks to the Greek debt the country achieved a loan of 10 billion euros in March 2013 as part of a European bail-out. Ms Georghadji, 58, has distinguished herself as a general auditor responsible for monitoring public spending since 1998, by her reports that have denounced the waste and corruption on the part of public organisations. She takes over from Panicos Demetriades who resigned after he was severely criticised for his management of the financial crisis. "I am aware that people, like capital, are leaving Cyprus," she declared during her investiture, saying that "in the extreme economic conditions which the country is facing she shared the "feeling of insecurity and mistrust that businesses and households experience on a daily basis."

Spanish MPs debated the project to hold a referendum in Catalonia on 9th November 2014 on the region's independence. After seven hours of debate MPs rejected this request 299 votes against, 47 in support and one abstention.

Appointed on 1st April 2014, Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave his general policy declaration to the National Assembly on 8th April in order to gain parliament's confidence. During his speech Manuel Valls announced several fiscal measures; he also announced the reduction of the public deficit and measures in terms of energy and also in the realm of national education and the administrative division of the French territories. The National Assembly gave its confidence, 306 votes in support 239 against and 26 abstentions. On 9th April the government was strengthened with the appointment of 14 Secretaries of State including Harlem Désir, former First Secretary of the Socialist Party, who was appointed to European Affairs.

The Irish president Michael D. Higgins travelled to London for an official, four-day visit from 8th to 11th April 2014. This was the first visit by an Irish head of State following Queen Elisabeth II's journey to Ireland in May 2011. This meeting provided an opportunity to promote the close relationship between the two countries, whilst healing the wounds caused by the conflict in Northern Ireland. On 9th April, President Higgins met Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss bilateral relations between their two countries and their future cooperation.

On the proposal of Head of government Matteo Renzi and Economy and Finance Minister Pietro Carlo Padoan, the government adopted a Economic and Financial Programming Document on 8th April 2014. This document illustrates a real initiative that embodies the country's pro-active commitment to undertaking economic structural reform which aims to stimulate growth and employment. This document comprises three parts: a stability programme, a national reform programme and public finance. According to this programme the deficit is not due to be over 2.6% of the GDP at the end of the year before returning to 1.8% in 2015.

The Europe Prize 2014 - is given yearly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to the town that ensures the promotion of the European ideal in particularly active manner. This year it went to the town of Slupsk in Poland. The town indeed played a pioneering role in terms of international cooperation by signing in 1988 a tripartite agreement with Carlisle and Flensburg which led to the exchange of experience in the area of local autonomy. PACE's Social, Healthcare and Sustainable Development Committee also stressed that many activities that the town had developed are not just restricted to local administration but also addressed its inhabitants particularly young people, organisations, foundations and cultural and educational institutions.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) held its spring conference in Aberdeen on 11th and 12th April 2014. The meeting provided Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond with an opportunity to recall his party's commitment to Scotland's independence, which he links to a wider movement than partisan politics, disassociating the vote from internal political stakes saying that a vote in support of the "yes" was not a vote for the SNP in 2016." Concerning the electorate the race is still tight according to polls between the supporters of independence and those for the upkeep of Scotland in the UK.

Whilst Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Anders Fogh Rasmussen was visiting the Czech Republic on 10th April where he met the new Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka he warned Russia against any further action that threatened to breach the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine. According to Anders Fogh Rasmussen Russia must stop accusing others for acts that it is committing and put an end to the present escalation. During his meeting with Mr Sobotka Mr Rasmussen also recalled that NATO's commitment to collective security was unshakeable and that the Alliance was taking legitimate steps to counter the instability caused by Russia's illegitimate action.

On 10th April 2014 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe suspended the voting rights of the 18 Russian members until the end of 2014 as a sanction against the annexation of Crimea by Russia. In a resolution adopted 145 votes in support, 21 against and 22 abstentions after three hours of debate, the Assembly maintained that the military occupation of Ukrainian territory, the threat of military intervention, the acknowledgement of the illegal referendum and the annexation of Crimea 'are undeniably a serious infringements of international law."

The UN Security Council gave the greenlight on 10th April 2014 for the deployment of around 12,000 Blue Berets in Central African Republic (CAR), in a bid to make safe a country that has been in a state of anarchy and violence for a year. According to the terms of the resolution adopted unanimously, according to a French proposal, these 10,000 soldiers and 1,800 policemen will make up the MINUSCA - Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in CAR. In five month's time they will take over from the 6,000 soldiers from the African army MISCA in situ alongside 2000 French soldiers. Europeans have also promised 800 men. The "transfer of authority" between MISCA and MINUSCA, ie the effective deployment of the Blue Berets has been set for 15th September and the initial mandate for this new short mission runs until 30th April 2015.

According to estimates published by Eurostat on 10th April 2014, for the fourth quarter in 2013, in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2012, there has been a 1.4% decline in housing prices in the euro zone and a decline of 0.1% in the EU. In comparison with the third quarter of 2013 housing prices declined in the fourth quarter by 0.7% in the euro zone and by 0.3% in the EU.

The Annual Report, released on 7th April 2014, describes the activities of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and reports on the Eurosystem's monetary policy of the previous year. It was presented to the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and the European Council by ECB Vice President, Vitor Constancio. The report is divided into different chapters dealing with: economic developments and monetary policy, ECB operations and activities, entry of Latvia in the eurozone, European and international issues, external communication and accountability, and the institutional framework.

Seuil Editions, together with Editorial Debate (Spain), Fischer Verlag (Germany) and Laterza (Italy) have launched an on-line multilingual review called "Eutopia" which aims to "put Europe at the heart of intellectual debate". The publication will focus on a monthly issue devoted to one of the most topical issues in Europe; the first edition will be on immigration. An area for dialogue will provide space for philosophers and historians to express themselves; interviews with "New Europeans" will be published as well as studies on the memory of Europe. The publishing houses involved are open to new members in order to bring life to the project.

From 17th April 2014 to 7th September the Tate Modern in London is devoting an exhibition to artist Henri Matisse and his "cut outs". This is the biggest exhibition of Matisse cut-outs - a process that was invented by the French artist at the end of his life. The exhibition brings together some 120 pieces of work from the world over - museums and private collections. Amongst the work on show are several Blue Nudes, the emblematic work by Matisse (1869-1954).