On 11th April the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a conference entitled "Smuggling, Counterfeiting and the Financing of Terrorism - Mobilising Economic Stakeholders". To take part it is recommended that you enrol.

On 28th March the European Commission presented an action plan to improve the mobility of troops and military equipment in Europe in a context of increasing tension with Russia. The measures proposed aim to remove numerous bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles which complicate military movement, notably when it comes to the transit of explosives and dangerous materials, and adapting road and rail infrastructures to the transport of vehicles like tanks for example.

The Civil Liberties Committee at the European Parliament adopted a resolution on 27th March to protect the independence of the media. MEPs called for Member States to provide better support to public service providers investigative journalism, the creation of a regulatory organisation and to monitor and flag threats made to journalists, as well as making investments to improve education about the media and the digital economy.

On 27th March the Bulgarian presidency came to an informal agreement with the European Parliament on a regulation regarding the monitoring and report of data on CO2 emissions and the consumption of fuel by new heavy goods vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions and to foster a low-carbon economy.

On 26th March a summit in Varma brought together the Presidents of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. They addressed several issues such as migration, the rule of law in Turkey, Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. Jean-Claude Juncker warned that Turkey should improve its relations with the EU's Member States.

On 27th March, 100 days after the election of Sebastian Kurz, the latter made a first review and gave the priorities of his mandate. Emphasis is placed on security, help to SMEs and education. Regarding Europe, Austria hopes to remain a vital link between East and West and in virtue of this it has not expelled any Russian diplomats in the context of the Skripal scandal.

On 25th March the former President of the region of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont was arrested in Germany on the Danish border. Mr Puigdemont is subject to a European Arrest Warrant issued by Spain. Germany announced its decision to detain him and has 60 days to decide whether to extradite him or not.

In 2017 France returned to the fold in terms of European budgetary requirements with a public deficit of 2.6% of the GDP. Growth, stronger than anticipated, is notably at the origin of this figure.

On 28th March the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) disbursed 5.7 billion euro to Greece, prior to a further billion planned for May 1st. It is the 4th tranche of aid from the ESM delivered to Greece. Its director Klaus Regling highlighted the "hard work undertaken by the Greek government and people", with regard to the multiple reforms requested in areas such as privatisation, fiscal policy and the resolution of non-performing loans.

On 28th March the Irish government launched the "Brexit Loan Scheme", the aim of which is to compensate the negative effects of Brexit on certain Irish businesses. To this end it has deployed financing of 300 million euros.

At the beginning of March the Council of Europe deemed the effect of the reforms on the independence of the legal system made by the Polish government since 2015 as being "negative". In a report published on 29th March the Council of Europe warned of the risks of corruption on the part of the judges of the National Council of Judiciary, who have been selected by the party in office.

Andrej Babis' government presented a bill on 27th March to tighten the criteria surrounding the organisation of a referendum on the European Union. 850,000 signatures will now be necessary for its organisation and to be valid the result will require a majority of those registered to vote. International agreements cannot be subject to referendum.

Just one year before the exit of the UK from the EU, British Prime Minister Theresa May started a tour of the UK on 29th March in a bid to rally and reassure her fellow citizens over Brexit which remains very divisive.

30th March marked the end of a week of discussions in Vienna between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the name of the latter, under the auspices of the UN's Special representative Matthew Nimetz. The Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias, spoke of "a convergence of views on the method" to resolve the problem of the country's name.

According to a press release published by Eurostat on 26th March the USA (631 billion €, i.e. 16.9% of the total goods trade of the EU) and China (573 billion €, i.e. 15.3%) were the EU's two main trade partners in 2017. As for the Member States intra-Union trade dominates in general.

The French National Craft and Design Institute (INMA) and its partners are organising the European Artistic Craft Days from 3rd to 8th April on the theme of "Futurs en Transmission". Supported and organised for the new generations, this year a widened programme is on offer over the six days of the event, offering new openings in addition to the 8,500 workshops and venues organised over the weekend of 6th to 8th April.