On 20th June the Foundation is organising a conference in Brussels devoted to fraud in the transit system in the EU. It will provide an opportunity to continue the work undertaken in the Kellet-Bowman report on the European transit system 20 years after its publication. The event is being organised as part of the Hercules III programme led by the anti-fraud office (OLAF), that is responsible for the protection of the Union's financial interest. You can enrol on line.

On 8th June new trade defence rules will enter into force. Any new investigation launched before or after this date will be subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rules. The aim is to modernise the Union's trade defence rules and help it impose higher duties in certain cases.

On 8th June the Commission presented measures to ensure more effective cooperation between Member States regarding customs and taxation. The new programme aims to introduce a modern customs union focused on business and citizens' interests and the programme Fiscalis which will foster cooperation between tax authorities in the Member States.

On 6th June the Commission suggested the creation of the InvestEU programme to bring together the financing of the Union's budget in the shape of loans and guarantees for the next 2021-2027 budget. This fund will encompass the many financial programmes that are available at present and will help the Commission stimulate the creation of more jobs, more investment and innovation.

On 4th June Facebook published a second round of answers to written questions that were still pending during the meeting between EP leaders and the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, on 22nd May last. These answers focus on issues like algorithms, online security, electoral manipulation and the implementation of the European regulation on data protection by Facebook.

European rules governing posted workers, based on the principle "equal work for equal pay" will apply to cabotage deliveries (ie deliveries within another Member State after a cross-border delivery), according to the amendments adopted in the transport committee of the European Parliament on 4th June. MEPs also suggested changes to guarantee better conditions for drivers' rest periods.

Projects aiming to reduce the use of antibiotics in animal farming were the focus of an informal agreement between MEPs and European Ministers on 5th June. The aim is to prevent resistant antibiotics entering the human system.

Agriculture Ministers who met on 5th June in Sofia for an informal discussion said they were cautious about the proposed reform of the Agricultural Policy unveiled by the European Commission.

In its public session on 11th June the Council came to an agreement on the regulation of ACER - the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. It pointed to how efficient this agency had been since its creation in 2011, notably in the area of cross-border energy cooperation, which largely fosters renewable energy systems.

On 6th June the European Commission adopted legislation that is to help counter the extraterritorial effects of American sanctions against European businesses that want to invest in Iran after Washington withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement. Moreover the French, German and British Foreign Affairs and Finance Ministers, as well as Federica Mogherini, the EU's High Representative, addressed a joint letter to the USA on 4th June. They recall their commitment to the agreement and ask their USA to exempt European businesses from sanctions.

The G7 met on 8th and 9th June in Charlevoix, Canada to try and find a common position regarding trade issues, the climate, Iran, Syria and Russia. In press release from which the USA withdrew, the leaders of the G7 advocated a more peaceful, stable and equal world.

Sebastian Kurz travelled to Brussels to meet the President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and to discuss the perspectives of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The President of the Commission welcomed a pro-European government with whom many common points were to be found notably regarding the strengthening of the EU's external borders.

On 4th June the President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic met European leaders Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk, Antonio Tajani and High Representative Federica Mogherini in Brussels. They notably discussed the country's political situation (including the fight to counter corruption and the freedom of the press), its European integration and the EU-Western Balkans Summit.

Mr Avramopoulos, the Commissioner responsible for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, and Mr Goosdeel, Director of the European Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, launched the European Drug Report 2018 on 7th June in Brussels. The report provides a full analysis of recent drug trends in the 28 Member States.

The European Observatory on Infringements on Intellectual Property Rights (EUIPO) published its synthesis report on infringements of intellectual property rights. It illustrates the increasing economic importance of Intellectual Property, its use by European companies, the economic costs of IPR infringement arising from both domestic and counterfeit trade, the methods and channels by which these rights are infringed, and the actions being taken in response to these infringements.

Until 23rd September the Tate Britain, London is offering an exhibition entitled "Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One." The latter marks the centenary of the end of the First World War, and looks into how artists responded to the physical and psychological scars left by the war in Europe.

Until 30th September the Giustianian Faccanon Palace in Venice is hosting a multimedia exhibition that will take visitors on a journey into the life and works of Van Gogh by way of 19 thematic areas which summarise the grand painter's career as a man and an artist.