On 26th February the French High Council for Gender Equality delivered a report on parity in politics in France and notably on the assessment of the implementation of the parity laws during the 2014 elections (local, European, Senatorial). It notes that 15 years after the constitutional reform parity has progressed but it is moving forward slowly due to a lack of legal constraints. It puts forward 12 recommendations to take matters further and to achieve real parity. Amongst these recommendations feature the harmonisation of MP candidate rules with those applied to Senators in a single list election obliging those standing to have an alternate of the opposite sex; the modernisation of the status of the elected member to enable an improved articulation of professional, political and personal life.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite travelled to Santiago - Chile on 27th February to attend an event co-organised by the UN on the theme of "Women in Power and in the Decision making process: building a different world." The President gave a speech to an audience of political personalities and decision makers like Ban Ki-moon, the UN's Secretary General and Leymah Gwobee, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. She stressed the importance of involving women in the process of political decision making and in the governance of major companies. She call on world leaders to set the example, notably women. In her opinion "women's participation in politics is not just a fashion, or a question of ambition or quotas. It is a necessity which is vital given the economic challenges and present security issues."

On 23rd February Polish Prime Minister Eva Kopacz met participants at a seminar "Entrepreneurial Women 2014" Kilece - organised by the newspaper Echo Diena. She presented the government's actions in support of women's professional activity and notably that of reconciling professional and private life. To this end a major project to build nurseries is now underway.

The murder of former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov on 27th February 2015 in Moscow caused a wave of indignation worldwide. Mr Nemtsov was a fierce opponent of Vladimir Putin's regime. All of the European leaders condemned his murder and the investigation into the crime continues. The EU's head of diplomacy Federica Mogherini declared her indignation on 28th February over the "brutal murder" of the Russian opponent calling on the Russian authorities to undertake a "full, rapid, transparent" inquiry.

An improvement in economic confidence was observed in February in the euro zone carried along by consumers and retail sales after remaining almost stable since the autumn. Indeed according to data published on 26th February by the European Commission the economic sentiment index lay at 102.1 points in February 2015 after dropping to 101.4 in January. Consumers (+1.8 points) are increasingly optimistic about the economic situation. They are the carriers of the wave of economic confidence in the euro zone with the retail sales sector (+1.5 points) in which business leaders are "more positive" about the economic climate according to the Commission's observations. Regarding the EU as a whole confidence rose especially in Italy (+2.4 points), France (+2 points) and Spain (+0.8 points).

On 24th February euro zone Finance Ministers approved the list of reforms submitted on 23rd February by the Greek government to the IMF, ECB and the European Commission. They have asked Greece to "develop and extend the reform measures" however. In a letter addressed a little earlier to the President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the European Commission said that the list of reforms sent by the Greek government was a "valid starting point" for an agreement between the Troika and Greece on the extension of the financial assistance programme. For her part the IMF's General Director Christine Lagarde was more sceptical than her European partners deeming that nothing in the Greek government's letter guaranteed "significant reform". She did however say that the government's commitments are "enough" to be able to continue the international financial assistance programme. The Board of Directors of the European Stability Fund (ESF) approved the four month extension of the European aid programme to Greece on 27th February. On the same day German MPs in the Bundestag also approved the extension thereby lifting the last hurdle to the disbursement of European aid to Greece.

Two and a half months before the UK elections the OECD's Secretary General Angel Gurria presented a report on the UK's economy on 24th February which is deemed positive overall by Prime Minister David Cameron. Two points do spoil the whole however: productivity and real salaries. "The main goal must undeniably be to improve productivity," said Angel Gurria. "Unlike events in previous crises productivity has not recovered. However it is necessary if the country's competitiveness is to improve and that real salaries rise continuously. A rise in the latter would help reduce the deficit and inequality, which are weighing on growth."

The Employment Agency in Germany has published its February data. Unemployment figures adjusted to seasonal variations remained the same in January at 6.5%. Specialists at the agency Factset, a supplier of financial analyses and service had forecast this. However they did not anticipate a major decline in the number of job seekers. Indeed analysts forecast a reduction of 8000 job seekers but 20,000 in fact came off the lists in Germany bringing the number of unemployed down to 3,017 million.

Portugal will pay the IMF 6 billion euro in March ie a quarter of the loans granted since 2011 as part of the bailout, indicated the government on 27th February. In all Lisbon wants to pay 14 billion euro of the 25.7 billion received over the last three years from the IMF within a two and a half year time span. This decision approved by the IMF and the EU will lead to a "significant reduction in the interest that the country has to pay," said Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque.

On 25th February the European Commission presented its fifth assessment report on the functioning of the visa exemption regime from which the Western Balkan countries benefit ie Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, FRYOM, Montenegro and Serbia. According to this report on the liberalisation of the visa regime with these countries "additional measures are necessary to protect the integrity of the regime and to fight to counter potential abuse in the EU's asylum regime." Indeed abuse of the asylum regime by Western Balkan citizens "is still extremely worrying" says the report. We should also note that the number of citizens from these five countries requesting asylum in the EU and the associate countries of the Schengen area has been rising constantly since liberalisation was introduced. Serbs (42% in 2013) are the biggest group of asylum seekers ahead of the Albanians and the FYROM (21% each). Finally Germany is the EU country which the greatest number of asylum requests from Western Balkan country citizens rising from 12% in 2009 to 75% in 2014.

On 25th February the European Commission approved a package of measures as part of its strategy for "a strong Energy Union together with a climate change policy directed towards the future." In this context the College of Commissioners adopted a document presenting the Union's energy goals and the measures that the Juncker Commission will take to achieve these based on five themes. Amongst these strategic themes there are notably legislative measures that aim to redesign and reorganise the electricity market, enhance the transparency of gas contracts, develop regional cooperation and even a new package of measures in support of renewable energies. The Commission also adopted two communications, one on interconnection defining the measures necessary to achieve 10% electricity interconnection by 2020, the other illustrating its position on a world agreement on the climate that might be concluded in Paris in December.

As part of the European Semester, the Commission delivered its decisions on the Member States' economic and fiscal situation on 25th February. Of the 16 countries identified in November as being in a situation of macro-economic situation of imbalance the Commission has stepped up the procedure regarding three countries: France (Stage 5), Germany (Stage 3) and Bulgaria (Stage 5). In two countries the Commission has launched the procedure on macro-economic imbalances i.e. Portugal and Romania; whilst the Commission decided to bring Slovenia out the said procedure. Regarding budgetary deficits, the Commission recommends that no excessive deficit procedure be launched regarding Belgium, Italy and Finland. Moreover the Commission decided to grant France a two year extension to bring its government deficit below the 3% of the GDP mark i.e. until 2017. This decision which goes together with a regular fiscal adjustment assessment as of May should enable the French government to introduce "ambitious structural reform". This extension should also be supported by a structural effort of 0.5% in 2015 said the Commission.

On 26th February the Commission adopted the last of the national operational programmes for the European Fund for the most vulnerable covering the period 2014-2020. Hence it has released a total of 3.8 billion euro in aid designed for 4 million Europeans who are deemed to be "the most at risk". This sum will mainly take the shape of material aid for those in the greatest state of poverty i.e. food shortage, homelessness and child poverty. The aid offered is very varied since it comprises food, clothing and other vital necessities, as well as action that aims to facilitate social integration or re-integration.

In its new recommendations published on 27th February the European Commission has asked France for further efforts to reduce its budgetary deficit, demanding that it reduce this more than planned in 2016 before reaching 2.8% of the GDP in 2017 via "additional savings measures". The European Commission's new recommendations set government deficit goals of 4.0% of the GDP in 2015 (instead of the 4.1% promised by the French government), 3.4% in 2016, when Bercy was planning on 3.6%, then 2.8% in 2017, the year when the country is supposed to drop below the 3% mark of the GDP. In structural terms the Commission hopes that France will reduce its deficit by 0.8 GDP points in 2016 then by 0.9 points in 2017. In 2015, the European Commission has asked France to make a structural effort of 0.5 GDP points. But it believes that the plans submitted by Bercy are inadequate and will only enable a reduction of 0.3 points this year. France is "able" to respect this "demanding", "realistic" recommendation said Finance Minister Michel Sapin.

A new draft report on the European PNR system presented by Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, UK) was debated in the Committee for Civil Liberties on 26th February. This new text suggests that several changes be made in comparison with the draft put forward by the Commission in 2011. MEPs discussed the assessment of the proportionality of the proposal given the present threats to security, the field of application (list of infringements covered), period of time data is kept, the inclusion or exclusion of intra-European theft, the link with the data protection reform now ongoing and the impact of annulation, by the EU's Court of Justice's judgment, of the 2006 directive on the retention of data. MEPs have until 25th March to put forward amendments to the draft report before a vote can be taken on the final text.

On 2nd March the Council adopted a directive on the rules that will apply to all EU countries as of 2017 on information sharing regarding road safety infringements committed by drivers of foreign vehicles. These rules will now apply in the UK, Ireland and Denmark. A directive on information sharing was adopted in 2011 but the three latter States did not take part due to their specific position regarding police cooperation. The aim of this directive is to improve road safety in Europe and to guarantee equal treatment of European drivers. Eight infringements are included in the directive: speeding, not wearing the seat belt, driving through a red light, drunk driving, driving under the influence of drugs, not wearing a safety helmet, use of a closed road and the illegal use of a mobile phone and any other means of communication whilst driving.

During the debate in the European Parliament on 25th February on the ECB's activities the institution's President Mario Draghi highlighted his commitment to "true economic Union." "Economic convergence has not been as sustainable as we first hoped. And this still threatens the long term success of Monetary Union in the event of a major shock," he maintained as he addressed MEPs. According to Mario Draghi two additional answers have to be provided to the shortfalls of Economic Union. Firstly, the economies of the euro zone must be strengthened via sounder public finances and ambitious economic structural reforms. "Secondly we must move over from a system of rules governing the drafting of national economic policies to a system of shared sovereignty within the common institutions, with the aim of strengthening our governance of economic policy. A common rule can only be strong if the common institution that can implement it is also strong," explained Mr Draghi.

On 27th February Spain announced that it will be contributing 1.5 billion € to projects funded by the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) which is the key element in the "Investment Plan for Europe". Spain's contribution will be made via the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO), the country's national development bank.

On his visit to the Philippines on 26th February French President François Hollande launched an appeal to help poor countries in the face of climatic disturbances in view of the Paris Summit this coming December which France hopes will lead to a binding agreement to limit global warming. This agreement drafted country by country would aim to contain global warming below 2°C by the end of the century. François Hollande has asked the rich countries to help the poorest to face the changes associated with future constraints, notably via the "Green Fund" - a financial mechanism which France and Germany have promised to finance to a total of one billion dollars each.

As of 1st January 2015, 22 of the 28 Member States of the European Union had national minimum wages. They ranged from €184 per month in Bulgaria to €1,923 in Luxembourg. However, when adjusted for differences in purchasing power, the disparities between Member States are reduced from a ratio of 1 to 10 in euro to a ratio of 1 to 4 in purchasing power standards (PPS). These figures were published by Eurostat on 26th February.

According to a Eurostat study on 2nd March the unemployment rate, adjusted to seasonal variations, lay at 11.2% in January 2015 in the euro zone and 9.8% in the EU, down in comparison with the December 2014 figures (11.3% and 9.9% respectively) but also in comparison with January 2014 (11.8% and 10.6% respectively). Unemployment in the euro zone in January 2015 (11.2%) is the lowest rate recorded since April 2012. The lowest unemployment rates recorded were in Germany (4.7%), Austria (4.8%), whilst the highest were seen in Greece (25.8% in November 2014) and in Spain (23.4%). Youth unemployment in January 2015 had also declined in comparison with January 2014 to lie at 21.2% in the EU and 22.9% in the euro zone in contrast to 23.3% and 24.3% respectively.

From 4th March to 31st May 2015 the National Gallery of London is running an exhibition "Inventing Impressionism" devoted to the difficult beginnings of Impressionist art. The exhibition looks in particular at Paul Durand-Ruel, a Parisian art dealer who, at an early stage, discovered and acquired works by future key elements of the movement like Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley. "Inventing Impressionism" shows more than 85 works of Impressionist art which all belonged to Durand-Ruel some of which are part of Renoir and Monet's most famous series.

The Museum für Gegenwart in Berlin is hosting the first joint exhibition of artists Mary Heilmann and David Reed from 6th March to 11th October 2015. These artists were key figures in American post-abstract Expressionist painting. The exhibition "Two by Two" presents 40 pieces made since the 1970's and explores the entente and tension between their respective artistic positions.