542,915 Cypriots are being called to ballot on 22nd May to appoint the 56 members of the Vouli antiprosopon (House of Representatives), the only house of parliament. According to the most recent poll by PMR&C Democratic Rally (DISY) of the present president of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades is due to win the election with 31.5% of the vote followed by the Progressive Workers' Party (AKEL) with 24.9%, the Democratic Party (DIKO), 14.3% and the Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK), 6%.

The 10th edition of the "Schuman Report on Europe, State of the Union 2016" has just been published and is available now in bookshops or from the Foundation's site and in digital form. Order your copy now!

On 11th May the Council of Europe published a report on the situation of refugees and migrants in Greece and Macedonia calling to step up the provision of decent housing capacities.

Portugal's economic growth slowed to 0.1% in the first quarter, in comparison with 0.2% in the previous quarter due to a slowing in exports announced the Institute for National Statistics INE on 13th May. The European Commission has to decide on 18th May whether it will sanction Portugal or not for its budgetary excesses.

After Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic, seven other EU Member States have launched a "yellow card" procedure via their Parliament against the draft directive on posted workers under the subsidiarity principle.

During a presentation to the members of the Civil Liberties Committee on 9th May the European Parliament's legal department deemed that the EU-Turkey agreement was not legally valid.

On 15th May the G7 adopted the Kurashiki Declaration highlighting the role of education in the fight to counter radicalisation and terrorism, the promotion of gender equality and new stakes linked to the digital revolution.

European Development and Trade Ministers, who met on 12th and 13th May, discussed the migration issue and development, reform in Afghanistan, progress in the negotiations over the TTIP, the agreement with Canada and the steel sector.

On 12th May Europol announced the recruitment of 200 investigators in the fight to counter terrorism, who are to be deployed to the migratory "hotspots" in Greece and more widely to the EU's external borders.

On 9th May the IMF published its report on the German economy announcing moderate growth this year and has advised to move forward regarding structural reform.

The Austrian Social Democrats (SPÖ) appointed Christian Kern as the new leader of the party and successor to Werner Faymann as Chancellor on 12th May.

The resignation of the Bulgarian Employment and Social Affairs Minister Ivaylo Kalfin of the ABV (Alternative for Bulgarian Revival) has weakened the government coalition in office since November 2014.

According to an economic study by the OECD on Denmark published on 10th May recovery is underway in the country but reforms are necessary to maintain living standards and to guarantee the long term viability of its social protection system.

On 11th May the OECD countries decided to invite Latvia to become the Organisation's 35th member, after having acknowledged the implementation of vast structural reform by the country since 1991.

The Romanian Healthcare Minister Patriciu Achimast-Cadariu resigned on 9th May in the wake of several scandals in the sector over the last few months.

Lord Evans of Weardale and John Sawers, both former MI5 and MI6 executives and declared on 8th May that a Brexit would be a real threat for the UK's security. In a joint declaration published on 10th May in The Telegraph, five former NATO Secretaries General adopted the same position.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has lost two ministers from the ecologist party Miljöpartiet (MP) within the last three weeks. After the Housing Minister Mehmet Kaplan, Asa Romson, Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister announced her resignation on 9th May.

On 11th May the Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip chaired the meeting of the government mission in charge of European integration. The implementation agenda of the association agreement signed in 2014 with the EU was defined as the top priority for the country's institutions.

On 9th May the "Be European" campaign was launched for the entire month of May in Ukraine on the initiative of the EU's delegation in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister and the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.

According to Eurostat in a report published on 13th May in the first quarter of 2016 the EU's GDP rose by 1.7% and that of the euro zone by 1.5% in comparison with the first quarter of 2015.

According to a Eurobarometer survey undertaken in April 2016 more than half of young European aged 16 to 30 feel marginal in their own country because of the economic crisis, but few want to leave their country for this reason.

In a report published on 10th May the NGO Human Rights Watch has accused the Turkish border guards of beating and shooting asylum seekers from Syria.

The 34th Puces du Design (Design Flea Market) is taking place from 19th May to 22nd May in Paris. Around one hundred participants and exhibitors will be offering visitors and potential purchasers the best of vintage 20th century design.