The 9th Schuman Report on the State of the Union (6th in English) has been published and provides insight into vital European issues: strengthening of the euro zone, growth and employment, investments, Energy Union, immigration, terrorism, European Defence and security challenges in the East and the South, transatlantic issues etc... The most eminent personalities Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, as well as the best experts have chosen to contribute articles. The Schuman Report 2015 on the State of the Union is available in bookshops, on the Foundation's site and in digital version. Order your copy!

During a session in parliament on 13th May the president of the Spanish government declared that the employment rate had increased by 9.2% and youth employment had increased by 4.7% according to the most recent social security statistics. 440,000 people found work in 2014 and 600,000 are due to find work in 2015.

On 12th May the Commission accepted commitments on the part of Air France/KLM, Alitalia and Delta, members of the airline alliance SkyTeam regarding three transatlantic routes. The Commission had concerns that the cooperation between these airlines may harm competition for all passengers on the Amsterdam-New York and Rome-New York routes and for premium passengers on the Paris-New York route, in breach of EU antitrust rules. The Commission believes that the commitments made by the airlines should help reduce barriers to market entry or expansion by other airlines on these three routes and it decided to make these commitments binding over a period of 10 years: the airlines will make landing and take-off slots available at the airports affected by these routes, they will conclude agreements that will enable competitors to offer tickets on the flights involved and they will provide information about the deals they make.

On 12th May 2015 the European Commission via the intermediary of Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Turkey via its Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci met to discuss the modernisation of customs union between the EU and Turkey. This meeting follows a year of technical dialogue and marks the official start of discussions on a modernisation agreement. Each side in the agreement will now be able to start internal procedures to achieve negotiation mandates. Turkey is the EU's sixth trade partner whilst the EU is Turkey's main trade partner. Customs Union between the EU and Turkey dates back to 1995.

Under the European Semester the European Commission adopted country per country recommendations for 26 EU Member States (Greece and Cyprus) and for the euro zone as a whole. The Commission recommended that the Council bring the excessive debt procedure against Malta and Poland to an end and to grant the UK two more years for it to bring its government deficit below 3% of the GDP. It will be decided within the next two weeks, after the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee, whether an excessive deficit procedure will be launched against Finland. France - at present the focus of an excessive deficit procedure has until 10th June 2015 to take effective steps according to the Council's recommendations made in March 2015.

On 13th May the European Commission set out a European agenda for migration which puts forward immediate action and a long term project that might be taken to remedy migratory issues in the Mediterranean. Finally the Commission would like to launch an operation to dismantle trafficking networks and migrant trafficking. Long term the Commission suggests setting up four types of action for an improved management of migration, i.e. discouraging illegal migration, better border management in the countries of the south of the Mediterranean, a better European asylum system and a new legal migration policy.

A group of seven eminent scientists will advise the European Commission on scientific matters in order to guarantee "transparency and independence" in an area in which the latter has often been accused of having been negatively influenced, announced the Brussels institution on 13th May. The high level group is due to be set in place in the autumn of 2015 said the Science Commissioner Carlos Moedas. The seven experts will be chosen "from around the world, according to their excellence, by an identification committee," he said. They will be remunerated for their work but they will not be employed by the Commission.

On 11th May 2015 the 28 Agriculture Ministers met in Brussels. They progressed towards agreement on general guidelines on a proposal for organic farming. This proposal aims to do away with obstacles impeding organic production, to ensure fair competitive conditions between players in the sector as well as improving consumer confidence in organic products. This augurs for an agreement during the Council in June. Moreover ministers adopted conclusions on the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy, the adoption of which was facilitated by the implementation of a consultation between Member States on the issue by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Finally they formally adopted a regulation on the full implementation of the landing obligation, thereby setting clear goals for the fishing industry.

On 12th May 2015 the 28 Finance Ministers, who met in Brussels adopted conclusions on the in-depth studies regarding economic imbalances in the Member States, stressing the need to continue structural reform and discussing specific recommendations decided under the European Semester. Moreover they focused on spending forecasts linked to ageing over the period 2013-2060 and adopted conclusions stressing the need to minimise the negative impact on economic growth, notably via the reform of retirement systems, healthcare and long term care. Finally the 28 Ministers discussed the progress achieved under the European Strategic Fund for Investments EFSI and recalled their will to see this activated by mid-2015.

On 13th May the Council decided to step up the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission which is linked to the Commission's migratory strategy in order to fight more effectively against migratory networks. The EU's civil mission in Niger aimed initially to strengthen the capabilities of the country's security forces to counter terrorism and organised crime more effectively. The EUs High Representative for Foreign Affairs notably said that "90% of migrants from West Africa pass via Niger" before going on to Libya. The Council therefore decided to step up the mission's capabilities to counter this via the creation of an outpost in Agadez in the north of the country - a major migratory cross-roads.

The Foreign Affairs Council met on 18th May in Brussels. Ministers condemned the attempted coup d'Etat in Burundi, as well as the acts of violence and the misuse of the country's constitutional order. The Council also established a naval operation to counter the activities of traffickers in the Mediterranean. This operation EUNAVFOR Med, comes under the EU's overall response to the migratory issue in the Mediterranean. During this Council the 43rd meeting of the European Economic Area took place (during which the EEA members said they were pleased with the single market's success that has been extended to Western European countries), as well as the 12th meeting of the Cooperation Council between the EU and Uzbekistan.

The 28 Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Ministers, who met in Brussels on 18th May, assessed the results of European cooperation in the area of education and training under the "Education and Training Programme 2020" which aims to help the Member States modernise their education and training systems. The Ministers insisted on the role of employment amongst young people, a factor of social inclusion, personal fulfillment and active citizenship. They also recalled the role played by education in the prevention of radicalisation and the promotion of European values. On 19th May the Council also decided to increase early payments for the youth employment initiative by nearly 1 billion euro in 2015 in order to free States of the financial burden that is impeding the introduction of measures to help young people integrate the labour market.

As they met in Lisbon the leaders of the parliaments which are members of the Union for the Mediterranean (UpM) called on 11th May for their heads of State and government as well as the European Union to step up "humanitarian channels" in terms of migration. In a declaration the leaders of the parliaments or their representatives advocated for more "humanitarian visas" and "a wider search and rescue operation on the part of the EU in the Mediterranean". "Rapid return in dignified conditions of migrants who cannot live legally in the countries where they are now" is also necessary, they added.

The G7 Energy Ministers met on 12th May in Hamburg and reached a unique consensus on the fight to counter global warming. This augurs well for the COP21 conference in Paris in December. Germany, which has made this one of the priorities of the G7 presidency, invited its partners to adopt ambitious goals on the occasion of the summit planned on 7th and 8th June next at the Elmau Castle in Bavaria.

On 11th May 54 young people aged 14 to 18 from 19 countries met in Berlin as part of the G7 Youth Summit organised by the German Ministry for Youth together with UNICEF. This was an opportunity for them to exchange key points that will be addressed during the G7 Summit in June and submit their conclusions to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The young people pointed specifically to the need to attenuate the impact of climate change as well as the imperative to improve social justice and access by girls to education.

Greece opened the procedure to privatatise the port of Piraeus on 14th May originally started by the previous government and one of the key points in the negotiations with its creditors. It informed potential buyers of a revision of the amount relinquished by the State that has dropped from 67% to 51%. Greece has asked the three candidates to place binding offers by September for the purchase of a majority share in its capital. Notably negotiations seem to be progressing with the Chinese company Cosco.

On 11th May the outgoing Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski announced that he wanted to offer his people a triple referendum. Firstly he wants to modify the present two-round majority electoral system to be replaced by a first past the post system as in the UK. Then he would like to ban the funding of political parties by the State and reform the tax law regarding the taxpayer's advantage. To organise a referendum in Poland the president submits his proposal to the Senate which has 14 days to analyse it and ask, if necessary, for clarifications on the part of the President. The Senate then adopts a resolution which has to win an absolute majority with at least one half of the Senators present in the vote. If the resolution is approved the referendum takes place within 90 days as of the Senate's decision. In Poland the referendum is only binding if at least half of those registered to vote go to ballot.

According to a Eurostat study published on 13th May 2013 most (51.2%) women in the EU had their first child when they were aged between 20 and 29, in contrast to 40.6% who became mothers in the 30's. In addition to this more than 127,000 first children in the EU in 2013 were born to mothers under 20 (teenage mothers) and around 65,000 women were over 40. On average women were 28.7 years old in the EU when they became mothers for the first time.

On 13th May Eurostat published a euro zone GDP estimate for the first quarter of 2015. The GDP is up by 0.4% in the euro zone and in the EU in comparison with the previous quarter. In comparison with the first quarter of the previous year GDP is up by 1% in the euro zone and by 1.4% in the European Union.

During a meeting in which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis took part on 15th May the Hellenic Business Federation presented a package of 82 proposals that aim to bring economic growth back to Greece. Entitled "Together for Growth" the package notably insists on the fact that Greece's membership of the euro zone is a "national, non-negotiable social contract". Beyond that the package covers a wide range of measures and areas such as taxation, access to financing, energy policy, justice, competitiveness, private sector employment, dismissals and even the regulation of the markets.

The third Art Fair in London will be taking place from 21st to 23rd May. More than 150 galleries will be represented; these come from London and the UK and also from 40 other countries in the world. Modern artists and major modern masters will be present. Experts from the Art Institute Sotheby will offering guided tours of the fair presenting the key collections of African, Asian and Eastern art as well as modern arts in the shape of photography and digital art.

The Hôtel de Caumont, the Art Centre of Aix-en-Provence is running an exhibition until 13th September 2015 "Canaletto. Rome, London, Venice. The Triumph of Light". The exhibition sheds new light on the Venetian Master's work with a special focus on how light is addressed in his paintings. Around 50 pictures and drawings from public and private collections present Canaletto and the different phases of his artistic career in Rome, London and Venice.

The Pinacothèque in Brera is running an exhibition until 19th July 2015 entitled "The Primacy of Drawing", which compares the drawing of the grand masters with the pictures of the Pinacothèque. The exhibition aims to show drawing as being the soul of painting via drawings and paintings from the 14th to the 20th centuries. Precious drawings by the grand masters are compared closely with their paintings, which are owned or on loan to the Pinacothèque by important international museums notably the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum.

The Grenoble Museum is running an exhibition until 31st August entitled "From Picasso to Warhol - a Decade of Acquisitions". This exhibition comprising 150 works aims to highlight the important pieces of work acquired or received in donation by the museum over the last decade; it unveils the strength of the collection and points to the privileged links that have developed between the museum and artists during a series of temporary exhibitions.