The 9th European elections will take place from 23rd to 26th May in the 28 Member States, including in the UK, to renew the 751 members of the European Parliament. The immediate challenges will be turnout, distribution of seats between the political parties running and between men and women and the election of the European Commission.

In one month's time from 23rd to 26th May, Europeans are being called to elect their MEPs for the next five years. The Robert Schuman Foundation has designed a website dedicated to providing greater understanding of the elections and what is at stake, and also so that voters can follow the campaign in the Member States with the lists of the parties running.

On 24th April the European Commission adopted a regulation aiming to limit the presence of trans fat in food. It set the maximum ratio at 2 grammes of trans fat in industrially manufactured foods. Businesses will also have to provide information regarding the quantity of trans fat in their products. The regulation will enter into force on 2nd April 2021.

On 26th April the European Commission published the 2019 Justice Scoreboard which analyses and compares the independence, quality and efficacy of the judicial systems in the Member States so that national authorities can improve them. The results present improvements but show that justice is perceived to be less independent in comparison with 2018 in 16 Member States. For the first time this table reveals disciplinary regimes that are applicable to judges in national judicial systems and guarantees to prevent the political control of judicial decisions. The table's conclusions will be used in the recommendations given to the Member States by the Commission and the Council.

On 29th April the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched a loans programme to a total of 1 billion € designed for young European farmers. The aim is to facilitate their access to financing whilst in 2017 27% of requests addressed to banks by young farmers were rejected. The programme will be managed at Member State level by banks and leasing companies which want to take part. These banks will also have to contribute to a total of 1 billion € and offer loans with more attractive interest rates linked to a longer period of reimbursement.

On 23rd April the government presented a draft bill to take on board the participation of the UK in the European elections. With the planned withdrawal of the UK, a share of the 73 British seats are due to be distributed between some of the Union's countries, including five for France. With the extension until 31st October of the Brexit deadline, "only 74 MEPs out of the 79 eligible for France will start their mandate if the UK stays in the EU," indicates the text.

According to Eurostat figures published on 25th April the employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 in the Union lies at 73.2% (against 72.2% in 2017) in 2018. Whilst as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy the Commission set the goal of at least 75%, 13 Member States have already achieved their national goal.

On 25th April the European Parliament published its spring Eurobarometer 2019 which shows support for the EU is at its highest level since 1989. 68% of citizens interviewed deem that all of the Member States have benefited from their Union membership; 61% deems that their country's membership is a good thing. However 50% of interviewees are pessimistic about the future of their country and the EU and only 33% knew in February/March that the European elections were being held in May 2019. Their main concerns regard the economy, unemployment, immigration and climate change. In the UK 54% of those interviewed deem that their country had benefited from EU membership, 45% would vote against Brexit in the event of a new referendum.

Until 18th August the Museum Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde of Stockholm is running an exhibition "Grez-sur-Loing - Art and Relations" exhibition. A great number of European and international artists met in this French village at the end of the 19th century, forming an international artistic settlement. The exhibition is the first to promote this group, a phenomenon of European artistic life of the 19th century. More than 100 pieces of work by Swedish, Norwegian, English and even Irish artists, including landscapes or scenes from village life will be on show.

Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy is running an exhibition until 18th August "Derrière le rideau" at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Paintings and sculptures will be on show, reflecting the various contrasts such as beauty and ugliness and drama and humour.

Until 7th July the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin is running an exhibition on landscape in Irish art "Shaping Ireland: Landscapes in Irish Art". It brings together the work by 50 artists which explore relations between men and nature, and the different uses of these spaces.

On the occasion of the 100 anniversary of the birth of Bauhaus and the 100th anniversary of the artist Andor Weininger, the Magyar Nemzeti Galleria, in Budapest is devoting an exhibition to the legacy of this Bauhaus artist until 28th July.

The Museum of the Armed Forces and the Picasso National Museum are running an exhibition until 28th July called "Picasso and War". It covers various works by the artist, ranked chronologically and chrono-thematically, reflecting armed conflicts such as the war in Spain and the Second World War.

The new exhibition at the Jardin des Plantes museum in Paris running until 5th January 2020 takes us to the ocean floors! This territory which covers 71% of the Earth's surface is home to an immense amount of hitherto unknown biodiversity. During the exhibition you can explore unusual milieux meeting species with astonishing features. A journey below the surface of the sea invites visitors to understand and be aware of the wealth of life in the marine world and warns of the threats that human activities are bringing against it.