The 6th Schuman Report on the State of the Union has been published and provides a better understanding of the challenges before us: strengthening of the euro zone, growth and employment, investments, energy union, immigration, terrorism, European defence and security challenges in the East and South, transatlantic stakes, etc. Top personalities, including Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, as well as the best experts, have chosen to voice their opinions in the Report. The 2015 Schuman Report on the State of the Union is available in bookshops, from the Foundation's website and in digital version. Order it now!

Negotiations between Athens and its creditors in Brussels came to an end on 14th June, with no agreement having been found. There will not be any further meetings before the Eurogroupe meeting on 18th June. On 30th June Greece must reimburse an instalment of 1.6 billion euros to the IMF and expects the payment of all or part of the 7.2 billion euros agreed within the context of the second aid plan for the country. Whereas on 11th June the IMF announced that it was withdrawing its teams from the Brussels negotiations, referring to "major differences" between Athens and its creditors, the Greek government refuses to lower small pensions and impose VAT at a rate of 23% on electricity, as demanded by its creditors.

On 9th June 2015 the Council adopted a compromise agreement on the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), which is key to the Investment Plan of 315 billion € put forward by the Commission. This agreement clarifies the nature of the projects supported, the life-span of the funds, its financing as well as the structure of its governance. The agreement with the European Parliament was reached during a trilogue in Brussels on 27th and 28th May, whilst final approval on the agreement was reached on 4th June. The EFSI regulation will now be submitted to vote by the European Parliament on 24th June when the European Council is due to approve it. Final adoption is planned for the end of June which will enable entry into force of the measure at the beginning of July and the financing of the first projects by the EFSI in mid-September.

On 8th June, the European Commission and countries in the Baltic sea region signed a memorandum of understanding providing for modernisation and reinforcement of the plan to inter-connect the energy markets of the Baltic region. At the same time, 12 European countries signed a declaration of regional cooperation on the security of electricity supply within the domestic market. This signature was followed by a political declaration by the Pentalateral energy Forum, a forum that acts as the framework for regional cooperation in Central and Western Europe. The memorandum and the two declarations are part of the creation of the energy market and should allow for greater integration within the Single Market as well as liberation of renewable energy potential within the European energy system.

The European Parliament's special committee on tax fraud regrets the lack of cooperation on the part of multinational businesses. On 9th June it decided therefore to publish the list of groups which have politely declined its invitation. These include McDonalds, Google, Ikea, HSBC and Amazon, who have refused so far to answer questions set by MEPs over fiscal arrangements. Only one company, Total, accepted to appear before the committee on 23rd June.

On 10th June 2015 the Council approved a compromise agreement on the reform of the Community Trade Marks Office system. This reform will improve businesses' innovative capacities whilst providing them with greater protection against counterfeiting. Moreover this reform aims to make the trade mark registration system more accessible and more effective for the latter. The compromise agreement now has to be adopted by the Judicial Affairs Committee at the European Parliament and then by the Council on first reading. Once the Council's position has been adopted the text will be submitted to a second reading vote in a plenary session at the European Parliament.

The EU-CELAC summit (Community of Latin-American and Caribbean States) was held on 10th and 11th June in Brussels. It was an opportunity for the two parties to reinforce their cooperation and take their partnership further. They re-stated their will to respect international law and the UN charter. The European Union announced that it would support Columbia financially in the combat to disarm guerrilla groups once a peace agreement has been reached, and stated its desire to see the "modernisation" of its relations with Cuba. Moreover it signed an agreement to remove the need for visas for short stays by Peruvian and Columbian nationals in the Schengen area. As well as the climate, progress was made with multilateral agreements. The European Union also announced that an amount of 118 million euros would be released in aid for businesses.

After seven months' hibernation, hidden somewhere on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Philae, the landing craft of the Rosetta mission woke up on 13th June. Brief signals were received, indicating that the little robot has sufficient energy available to transmit its data. Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the CNES, declared "We have been able to collect signals from it for two minutes as well as 40 seconds of data". The re-awakening can be explained notably by the comet's movement; by getting closer to the sun it enabled the robot's solar panels to restart.

The 51st Le Bourget air show will be held from 15th to 21st June. All the major players in the aeronautical industry will be present to show their new products. Almost 120 civil and military aircraft, amongst the most innovative and spectacular in the world, will be presented this year, some of which will perform daily flying demonstrations. The show is reserved for professionals only from 15th to 18th June and will be open to the general public on 19th June.

On 14th June, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi stated that a "plan B" would be implemented in his country if EU solidarity with regard to Italy was not improved, with regard to taking charge of refugees. This declaration came within a context of tension between Member States who are having difficulty agreeing on the plan put forward by the European Commission that aims, notably at the distribution of 24,000 refugees amongst them. Matteo Renzi will discuss the question of immigration with French President François Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron, during their respective visits this week to Milan, as well as with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The migrant question will also be on the agenda of the next European council of the 25 States, on 25th and 26th June.

The phone tapping scandal has rebounded in Poland, causing a real political explosion. Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz announced on 10th June the resignation of six ministers or Secretaries of State and the resignation of the President of Parliament Radoslaw Sikorski, all of whom were named in an explosive affair of illegal phone tapping. At the end of a press conference, Ewa Kopacz asked the Polish people for forgiveness. She also cancelled a trip to Brussels with the country in the midst of political turmoil, two days after the businessman and political militant Zbigniew Stonoga published on his Facebook page the entire legal file on the incidents involving recordings, without their knowledge, of several people close to the party in power.

On 9th June the Romanian Parliament rejected by 231 votes to 120 the request to lift the immunity of Victor Ponta, the Romanian Prime Minister accused of corruption. The Romanian anti-corruption agency (DNA) had requested the opening of an enquiry against the head of government suspected of tax evasion and money laundering when he was a lawyer between 2007 and 2011. The President, Klaus Iohannis, who campaigned in 2014 on the combat against corruption, requested the Prime Minister's resignation and qualified Parliament's decision as irresponsible insofar as Victor Ponta cannot be the object of legal proceedings for the period when he is in office and can be suspended only by the President.

On 9th June, a majority of British members of parliament (544 to 53) approved a draft bill on the organisation of a referendum on UK membership of the EU, and rejected the amendment put forward by the Scottish National Party (SNP) to block the text. Supported by both Conservative and Labour members, adoption of the bill, which still has to go for second reading before the Commons, is not in any doubt although debates highlighted tensions within the Conservative camp. After adoption of the bill, the date for the referendum will depend mainly on negotiations between David Cameron and his European counterparts on the terms of UK membership, since the UK wants to recover a large share of its competences.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to Europe from 6th to 11th June, visiting Ukraine, Poland and Italy. During his meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Porochenko, he confirmed Canada's support against Russian aggression and in the undertaking of economic and democratic reforms in Ukraine. In Poland he met with Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, President Bronislaw Komorowski and President elect Andrzej Duda, and announced the signature of a declaration of intent between the Defence Ministers of the two countries, indicating their common commitment to reinforcing their cooperation in terms of defence. In Rome he discussed investments and bilateral trade with Matteo Renzi. Finally, he had a private audience with Pope Francis at which they discussed the importance of defending the interests of Christians and other religious minorities under threat in the Middle East, in eastern Ukraine, in Crimea and in Africa, and stated the need to reinforce their collaboration in the defence of religious freedom worldwide.

On the occasion of Russia Day at the Universal Expo in Milan on 10th June, the President of the Italian Council Matteo Renzi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin. The central themes of the visit were the crisis in Ukraine, Russian-Italian relations and international terrorism. In Rome Vladimir Putin met with President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and then with Pope Francis who, at a private meeting in the Vatican, requested a major commitment from Russia for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.

On 9th June Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted the resignation of Ahmet Davutoglu's government, following the results of general elections held on 7th June. The formation of a coalition government between the AKP and the opposition is set to be difficult because the three opposition parties have, for the time being, excluded any kind of alliance with the AKP.

Ukraine cannot draw from its Central Bank reserves to pay off its private creditors within the context of current negotiations on the rescheduling of its debt, said IMF chief Christine Lagarde, on 12th June. According to her, Ukraine needs to retain large cash reserves to ensure the success of its economic reform programme and "in this respect, Ukrainian Central Bank reserves cannot be used to service the external debt without the government taking out more debt, which would be incompatible with the success of the operation".

According to official figures published on 9th June by the UN Agency for Refugees, some 103,000 refugees and migrants have already crossed the Mediterranean to disembark in Europe in 2015 with peaks recorded daily in the Greek islands. 54,000 have arrived in Italy, 48,000 in Greece. This total includes around 6000 migrants and refugees who arrived in the south of Italy on the weekend of 6th-7th June following a major rescue operation coordinated by the Italian coastguard and in which navy ships deployed by Frontex, Italy, Germany, UK, Ireland, Spain and also the MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) took part.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was up by 0.4% over the 1st quarter in the euro zone and in the European Union, particularly thanks to household consumption, according to figures published on 9th June by the European statistics office, Eurostat. GDP was already up by 0.4% during the fourth quarter 2014, points out Eurostat.

Enrico Letta, former president of the Italian government, has brought out "Andare insieme, andare lontano" (Walking together, going further) published by Mondadori. The author tells the history of Italy and Europe, convinced of the need to get back to the spirit of the Founding Fathers and thereby achieve the dream of a united Europe. Italy needs a joint, united effort in order to combat its internal problems, notably unemployment.

Until 1st November the gardens of Versailles Palace will welcome an exhibition of contemporary art by British artist Anish Kapoor. The artist, for whom a work only truly exists in the eyes of the spectator, has chosen to combine dualities: sky and earth, visible and invisible, outside and inside, shadow and light, to create an imaginary, unstable world, contrasting with the controlled reality of Versailles Palace.