The 13th edition of the "Schuman Report on the State of the Union", a reference work for European decision makers, is available in bookshops, from the Foundation's website and in digital version. This year is one of renewal for the European institutions and the occasion for deep thought about the State of the Union, its chances of gaining greater independence and influence in the international arena, thanks to the interdependency it has managed to create between the Member States. It brings together contributions penned by the best experts and offers 33 original maps that summarise the main European issues and a unique series of commented statistics. Order your copy now!

In view of the upcoming European elections, the Robert Schuman Foundation has published a new version of the "Permanent Atlas of the European Union" which offers full view of the Union, the euro zone, of each of the Member States and its overseas territories. This book provides the reader with the most recent political and statistical as well as the most objective information at any moment. It is available in papier/digital version from the Foundation's website or from bookshops.

To celebrate Europe Day on 9th May the Robert Schuman House at Scy-Chazelles is organising a conference on 7th May with Pascale Joannin, the Foundation's General Manager to address issues regarding the UK's exit of the EU.

Eric Maurice, manager of the Foundation's Brussels' office is taking part on 8th May in Helsinki at a conference entitled "What role for Franco-German cooperation in a changing Union?" organised by the Finnish Institute for International Relations.

9th May is Europe Day, the day on which Robert Schuman, the then Foreign Affairs Minister laid the foundations of European integration in a declaration delivered on 9th May 1950. Everywhere across Europe, and in the world, we shall be celebrating Europe Day. On this occasion the Foundation will be publishing an 8 page special on its site to discover everything you need to know about how the Union started.

In three weeks' time Europeans are being invited to elect their MEPs for the next five years. The Foundation is offering its audience a dedicated website designed to encourage greater understanding of the election and what is at stake, and also to be able to follow the campaign in the Member States with the lists and polls country per country.

Visa and Mastercard are now obliged to reduce card payment costs significantly which are issued outside of the region, in the USA or Asia, for example said the European Commission on 29th April. Both companies who have come under the European executive's scrutiny over the last few years "pledged to reduce significantly the interchange commission applied to payments undertaken by card outside of Europe," writes the Commission in a press release.

On 30th April the Commission published its recommendations for the Union's strategic programme 2019-2024 which will be discussed at the extraordinary European Council in Sibiu on 9th May and adopted during the European Council of June. The Commission has pinpointed five areas of priority action: security, competitiveness of the single market, social Europe, sustainable development and the role of Europe in the international arena.

On 2nd May the Commission called for candidates to win DiscoverEU tickets. All young people aged 18 (born between 2nd July 2000 and 1st July 2001) have until 16th May to put their name forward, via the European Youth Portal. They should also be prepared to travel between 1st August 2019 and 31st January 2020. The DiscoverEU programme was created by the Commission in 2018 and aims to help young Europeans travel across the continent and to discover its cultural heritage as well as create links between them.

On 3rd May the Commission published its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures based on new trade defence rules regarding imports from countries with significant market distortions caused by State intervention. The measures adopted will guarantee fair market conditions for organics coated steel manufacturers and the measures introduced regarding Chinese imports in 2013 will be extended for a further five year period.

On 3rd May the Commission published its proposals to establish new international e-commerce rules. In January 2019 76 member of the WTO, including the European Union, launched negotiations to establish a new legislative multilateral framework in this area. The rules put forward by the Commission in this context notably aim to protect consumers better, to facilitate cross-border sales and to make safe online contracts. The proposals made by the WTO's members, including those of the Commission will be discussed on 13th to 15th May in Geneva.

In Beijing on 25th to 27th April, more than 150 State representatives met during a summit on the Silk Road and signed more than 64 billion $ in investment agreements for the "introduction of highly quality, sustainable, economic infrastructures" linking 65 countries together, indicated Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On 3rd May the Minister for Culture, Franck Riester and the Secretary of State for European Affairs Amélie de Montchalin chaired a meeting with their European counterparts. The meeting organised at the Louvre museum following the fire at Notre-Dame in Paris, aimed to provide greater protection to Europe's heritage via new proposals such as the mobilisation of a network of experts and even the involvement of young people.

On 5th and 6th May the Environment Ministers of the G7 countries, as well as the European Commissioner responsible for the Environment met in Metz. After this meeting the (non-binding) Metz Charter for biodiversity was signed, stipulating for example "the strengthening and improvement of the present biodiversity strategies, policies, action plans and programmes." Other measures will be put forward by 2020.

On 2nd May England and Northern Ireland voted in local elections for the 8,400 town council seats. The Conservative Party was severely sanctioned with a loss of 1,330 seats. Labour lost 84. The Lib-Dems won 704 and the Greens 194.

On 2nd May American Secretary State for Energy, Rick Perry attended a business to business energy forum organised jointly by the EU and the USA in Brussels. The President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and American President Donald Trump agreed in July 2018 to step up cooperation in area of energy and more particularly liquified national gas. Since this meeting US imports of LNG in the EU have increased by 272%.

According to Eurostat's figures published on 29th April the real per capita household revenue increased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018 in the euro zone after a rise of 0.2% in the previous quarter. In the European Union it increased by 0.3% in the fourth quarter 2018, after an increase of 0.6% in the previous quarter.

According to figures published on 30th April by Eurostat, the GDP increased over the first quarter of 2019 by 0.5% in the EU in comparison with the previous quarter and by 0.4% in the euro zone. In comparison with the first quarter of 2018 the GDP increased by 1.5% in the EU and by 1.2% in the euro zone. This was the 24th consecutive quarter of growth.

According to an estimate published on 3rd May by Eurostat, the euro zone's annual inflation rate lay at 1.7% in April. This is up in comparison with March 2019 (1.4%). Amongst the main components of inflation in the euro zone, it is energy which experienced the highest annual rate in April (5.4%), followed by services (1.9%), food, alcohol and tobacco (1.5%) and industrial goods (energy aside) 0.2%).

From 10th May to 16th June the streets of Vienna will be hosting the Wiener Festwochen, which is an art festival with many events in "response to the world governed by antagonistic populism". Artistic projects form part of an urban atmosphere rallying international participants from modern to classical art. There will be concerts, theatre play and dances organised in the streets and concert halls of the Austrian capital.

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, the Leonardiano Museum in Vinci is running the exhibition "Leonardo in Vinci" until 15th October. The first works created by the artist are on show.

The Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Oldenburg Germany is hosting an exhibition entitled "Between Utopia and Adaptation - Bauhaus in Oldenburg" until 4th August. Via biographies of four Bauhaus students who came from Oldenburg, the exhibition aims to illustrate the influences of utopia, adaptation and emigration in Bauhause which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

From 8th May to 16th September the Pompidou Centre of Paris is running an exhibition "Prehistory, a modern enigma". The exhibition reflects the fascination modern artists, like Klee, Giacometti and Louise Bourgeois held for traditional African art and prehistoric sculptures.

Until 8th September the Reina Sofia Museum is running an exhibition of Tetsuya Ishida's works at the Velazquez Palace in the Retiro Park, Madrid. The Japanese artist explores, via his works, the uncertainty and desolation of Japanese society that has been changed by new technologies and the successive economic and political crises that have affected the world.