The 10th edition of the "Schuman Report on the State of the Union", a work of reference for European decision makers is available now in digital version. This year the renewal of the European institutions provides an opportunity for deep thought about the State of the Union, its chances of gaining more independence and influence in the international arena, thanks to the interdependence its has managed to create between its Member States. It brings together articles drafted by the best experts and offers 33 original maps which summarize the main European issues and a unique series of commented statistics. Order your copy now!

In view of the upcoming European elections the Foundation has published a new version of its "Permanent Atlas of the European Union" which offers a full panorama of the Union, the euro zone, of each of the Member States and its overseas territories. This work enables each reader to have the most recent and most objective information at his or her fingertips at any moment. It is available in paper version from the Foundation's site or from bookshops and in digital version.

In the "Grand Turning Point" published by the Ecole de Guerre, Jean-Dominique Giuliani shows that the EU - contrary to popular discourse - has the means to rise to the new challenges of the 21st century. Europe has succeeded beyond the hopes of the Foundation Fathers. It might even succeed in guaranteeing its place by the end of the century amongst the three biggest world powers.

The debate between the candidates to the presidency of the European Commission took place on 15th May in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. The candidates whose speaking order was selected at random were Nico Cué (European Left -GUE), Ska Keller (European Green Party, EGP), Jan Zahradil (Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists - AECR), Margrethe Vestager (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, ALDE), Manfred Weber (European People's Party -EPP) and Frans Timmermans (European Socialist Party, PES). They addressed issues such as employment, migration, security, populism, climate change and the role of the Union in the international arena.

As part of the digital single market and the reform of the European telecommunications rules, adopted by the Council and the Parliament in June 2018, a new minimal price will apply to all international calls and SMS in the Union as of 15th May. Consumers will pay a maximum 19 centimes (+VAT) per minute for a call to another Union country and 6 centimes (+VAT) per SMS. Telecommunications operators from across the EU will have to tell consumers what these new prices will be.

On 16th May the Commission adopted two settlement decisions, fining the banks Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan and MUFG a total of 1.07 billion €. The reason behind this is their participation in a foreign exchange spot trading cartel involving 11 currencies. The Commission's investigation revealed that some traders in charge of Forex spot trading of these currencies had exchanged sensitive information and trading plans. The UBS bank revealed the agreements to the Commission and was therefore spared of the fines.

During the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 14th May Ministers discussed the package of post-2020 reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). They addressed the Commission's communication entitled "a clean planet for all" and debated its agricultural aspects. Finally ministers discussed the agricultural trade and negotiations completed or ongoing in this area, notably with Mercosur, Australia and New Zealand.

On 14th May the Defence Ministers discussed the situation in the Sahel with their counterparts from the countries of the Sahel G5. They debated the permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) after its first year of existence and adopted a recommendation assessing the progress made by the participating Member States. They stressed that the latter had made progress by increasing the aggregated defence budgets by 3.3% in 2018 and by 4.6% in 2019. Finally they encouraged the Member States to take binding steps regarding the rapprochement of their respective defence systems.

European Development Ministers who met on 16th May adopted conclusions on the development aid goals in the shape of an annual report at the European Council. It notes that the Union and its Member States have retained their leading place as the first provider of funds in the world in terms of public development aid : 74.4% million € and 0.47% of the Union's GDP, ie 57% of all aid provided to developing countries. The Council also published its conclusions on the coherence of development policies.

On 16th May the 19 Finance Ministers of the euro zone discussed the Union's economic situation and the future euro zone budget, called the budgetary tool for competitiveness and convergence. Addressing the issue of financing this instrument, they decided that the euro zone Member States will define its strategic orientation and will be involved in the monitoring of its implementation by the European Commission.

The Economy and Finance Ministers of the EU who met on 17th May addressed the issue of digital taxation in preparation for debate at the G20 which will take place in Osaka (Japan) on 28th and 29th June. Ministers also discuss possible measures to guarantee fair competition and reduce the red tape that businesses face. They did not come to an agreement however. For the very first time the Council established a series of sanctions that will enable the Union to impose restrictive, targeted measures that aim to discourage and counter cyberattacks, including those undertaken against third countries and international organisations. Finally they decided to withdraw Aruba, Barbados and Bermuda from the list of non-cooperative countries and territories in terms of taxation. 12 non-cooperative countries and territories remain on the list.

The 55th conference of the European Economic Area Council (EEA) took place on 20th May in Brussels together with representatives of the Union's Member States and Foreign Affairs Ministers from Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. The Council stressed the need to protect the EEA agreement in the context of Brexit and debated issues regarding energy security and climate change in terms of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Finally it stressed the importance of the digital single market.

On 17th May the Council extended the restrictive measures against the Syrian regime and those who support it until 1st June 2020, given the continued repression exercised against the civilian population. The sanctions that are in force at present against Syria include an oil embargo, with restrictions hitting certain types of investment, a freeze of assets held by the Syrian Central Bank in the Union and restrictions on the export of equipment and technology that might be used for internal repressive measures, as well as equipment and technologies designed for surveillance or the interception of internet communications and telephone communications.

The EU-Tunisia Association Council met on 17th May and signed a common declaration in which it welcomed the excellence of the privileged partnership. The Council signed an agreement for the "EU4Youth" programme in support of the economic, social and political inclusion of young Tunisians.

The European and American police forces announced on 16th May that they had dismantled a world network of cybercriminals who have stolen 100 million $ from more than 41,000 victims in the world by using a Russian malware. Legal proceedings have been launched against suspects in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and in the USA, whilst five Russian citizens are on the run, declared the European cooperation agency with Europol during a press conference in the Hague.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, the Committee of Ministers - the decision making body at the Council - adopted a declaration. The Foreign Ministers of the Member States praised the active role played by the Council of Europe in defending Human Rights via tools such as the European Convention of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Social Charter. They recall that all of the Member States must respect the commitments made and the Council's standards. Ministers also discussed several areas of priority action: a free, pluralist public debate, the fight to counter discrimination, equal opportunities and gender equality.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 16th May exports of euro zone goods towards the rest of the world increased by 3.1% in comparison with March 2018 and imports from the rest of the world rose by 6%. In March 2019 the euro zone recorded a surplus of 22.5 billion € in its international goods trade with the rest of the world (in comparison with 26.9 billion € in March 2018). Exports of goods from the EU towards the rest of the world rose by 1.2% in comparison with March 2018 and imports from the rest of the world increased by 6.4% in comparison with March 2018. The Union recorded a surplus of 2.9 billion € in its international goods trade in March 2019 with the rest of the world (in comparison with 11.2 billion € in March 2018).

According to figures published by Eurostat on 17th May the euro zone's annual inflation rate lay at 1.7% in April 2019, against 1.4% in March 2019 and 1.2% in April 2018. Annual inflation in the EU28 lay at 1.9% in April 2019 against 1.6% in March 2019 and 1.5% in April 2018. The lowest annual rates were recorded in Croatia (0.8%) and Denmark (0.9%) and the highest were in Romania (4.4%) and Hungary (3.9%).

On 17th May the Commission published the most recent reports by Facebook, Google and Twitter on the progress made since April 2019 to counter disinformation. The three platforms signed the Code of Good Practice against Disinformation and pledged to make a monthly report of the measures taken in view of the European elections in May. The Commission welcomed the progress made, notably in terms of transparency and the fight to counter disinformation, but deemed that improvements could still be made, particularly regarding targeted advertising and the means of identification used to attribute these to users.

On 17th May the Commission published a report on the progress achieved in the implementation of EU aid in support of refugees in Turkey. 84 humanitarian aid projects have been implemented, notably in the area of education and healthcare: the building of schools and healthcare centres and a aid programme of the integration of Syrian children into the Turkish education system. All of these measures have been allocated a budget of 6 billion €, 4.2 of which have already been allocated.

On 20th May the Commission published two independent studies assessing the effects of the Erasmus+ programme and its beneficiaries - students, teachers and universities. 9 students out of 10 believe that the skills and experiences they acquired during their Erasmus period are useful to them in their daily working life. Their feeling of belonging to Europe is also strengthened. The participating universities are for their part better prepared for digital transformation, international cooperation and the development of the labour market. Between 2014 and 2018 more than 2 million students and teachers benefited from the Erasmus+ programme.

From 25th May to 3rd November the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is hosting the structures created by Louise Bourgeois. 12 sculptures ranging from colossal spiders' webs, giant eyes and even immense spirals of aluminium will be set up on the museum's gardens.

From 22nd May to 15th September the Museum of Romantic Life in Paris is offering visitors an exhibition "Romantic Paris 1815-1848, the Literary Salons". This exhibition reflects the city of Paris between 1815 and 1848 via the ambiance of the literary salons where intellectuals like Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo and Alfred de Musset used to meet.