Due to an increase in cases, France has reintroduced restrictive measures for 4 weeks in 16 departments. Poland extended the restrictions imposed in several regions nationwide until the end of the Easter holidays. Germany decided to extend the measures in place until 18 April, with stricter confinement for the Easter period. For its part, the European Commission has presented its draft certificate, which will facilitate travel. To follow the development of the situation, the Foundation offers you a summary of the sanitary measures in place and the conditions for travel throughout Europe. An essential, regularly updated resource for an up-to-date understanding of the situation.

The European Union reiterated on 18 March its support for political dialogue in Belarus and for the organisation of a new presidential election under international supervision. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is calling for expressions of support for the Belarusian people on 25 March, Freedom Day, which commemorates the country's independence in 1918. To follow the crisis since the August 2020 elections, the Foundation offers a chronology of events and links to European reactions and initiatives.

On 17 March, the Commission presented its digital green certificate for people travelling in the Schengen area, which will indicate whether they have been vaccinated, tested or cured of the virus. The certificates will be available free of charge and will be issued in electronic form. The Commission has also issued recommendations for Member States to act in a coordinated and balanced way as they phase out restrictions. It calls on them to share epidemiological data and to coordinate to help the tourism and cultural sectors.

On 15 March, the Commission set out the research and innovation priorities for the Horizon Europe programme for the period 2021-2024. Among the objectives of the €99.5 billion programme are: promoting open strategic autonomy, restoring ecosystems and biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources, making Europe the leading circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy based on digital technologies, and creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society. On 18 March, the Commission launched the European Innovation Council (EIC). With a budget of €10 billion, it aims to diversify and develop breakthrough and promising innovations.

The Commission referred the UK to the Court of Justice on 19 March for failing to comply with a 2018 decision considering the corporate tax exemption scheme applied between 2011 and 2013 in Gibraltar as illegal State aid. The UK has still not recovered €100 million that the Commission asked it to collect.

On 16 March, the Ministers of Economy and Finance discussed the priorities for recovery plans and resilience and exchanged views on the conduct of fiscal policy in the current context, as well as the prospects for recovery. They agreed that fiscal support should not be withdrawn too soon. They also discussed taxation related to the digitalisation of the economy.

On 16 March, the Council finally adopted new rules to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content on the internet. The rules will apply to all service providers offering their services in the EU. Member States' competent authorities will be able to limit incitement to violence and radicalisation via video platforms and social networks by requiring service providers to remove or block terrorist content within one hour.

On 16 March, the Health Ministers discussed the Europe against Cancer plan. As the pandemic has delayed the detection and treatment of cancer cases, the ministers set prevention, early detection and the reduction of treatment inequalities in the EU as priority objectives for the Member States. They stressed the importance of cooperation and sharing of medical and scientific data between Member States. Ministers reiterated the need to accelerate vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus.

The Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on 18 March on the modalities of data sharing between the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and existing databases such as the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS), the Entry and Exit System (EES) and Eurodac, as well as Europol and Interpol data, and data on criminal records of third country nationals (ECRIS-TCN). The formal adoption of this agreement will be the last step before the establishment of ETIAS, which should be operational in 2022.

On 18 March, the Environment Ministers discussed the European strategy for adapting to climate change and the European climate law. They also discussed the role of the recovery and resilience mechanism in the context of the greening of the European semester. Finally, they discussed a legislative proposal on batteries and battery waste that promotes the circular economy and aims to ensure the protection of health and the environment.

On 22 March, the Ministers for Competitiveness stressed the importance of investing and encouraging the diversification of supply and production chains in Europe. They said they wanted to strengthen the Union's autonomy in the production of critical goods and access to raw materials. Ministers discussed how to ensure a level playing field in the single market, in particular with regard to the distorting effects of foreign subsidies. They discussed the Commission's proposal for a Digital Compass 2030.

High Representative Josep Borrell visited Sigonela airbase in Sicily on 19 March to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of the EU's Irini operation, deployed as a successor to Operation Sophia to monitor the UN arms and oil embargo in Libya. The EU is the only force present in the Mediterranean to ensure this control. The EU has decided to extend its Irini naval mission by two years, until 31 March 2023.

The Council decided on 22 March to apply restrictive measures against four Chinese officials because of serious human rights violations in China. Several individuals and entities were sanctioned in North Korea, Libya, Chechnya, South Sudan and Eritrea. In retaliation, China decided to ban the entry into its territory of ten Europeans, including 5 MEPs and national MPs, as well as 4 entities, including the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the Council and the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament.

The Foreign Ministers met on 22 March and decided to sanction eleven people responsible for the military coup in Burma on 1 February 2021. They also took stock of relations with Turkey, which will be on the agenda of the European Council. They discussed the partnership with the southern neighbours. They also adopted a new financial instrument in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy: the European Peace Facility.

Companies from European Patent Office (EPO) Member States filed 45% of patents registered in 2020, compared to 25% from the US and 7% from China. Germany (14%), France (6%) and Switzerland (5%) were the countries that filed the most patents.

On 19 March, the government adopted a €32 billion aid package. 11 billion will go to businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs, 1 billion will be allocated to a citizenship income for the most disadvantaged and 900 million will be spent on seasonal workers. The freeze on redundancies has been extended until the end of June, and partial unemployment until the end of the year for SMEs. Finally, €5 billion is being spent on health, including €2.8 billion to purchase vaccines and medicines and €200 million to launch vaccine production.

The Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) published two reports on Turkey on 18 March. In the first one, it expresses its concerns about the lack of transparency in the legislative process and urges the authorities to adopt stricter standards regarding conflicts of interest for parliamentarians. The lack of independence of the judiciary is also highlighted. In the second report, GRECO calls on Turkey to make more progress regarding the transparency of political party financing, as only one of the nine recommendations already issued has been implemented.

In a report published on 17 March, the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) urges Denmark to improve the identification and protection of victims of human trafficking and to allocate the necessary human and financial resources to assist them.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, called on the Polish Prime Minister on 16 March to respect European human rights standards. She expressed concern about the proposed tax on media advertising revenues, which could limit media content and thus undermine media pluralism and freedom. It is concerned about the draft law on the "protection of the freedom of expression of users of social networks", which has many loopholes and gives too broad a definition of "illegal content" and could hamper freedom of expression and the right to privacy.

On 17 March, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe stressed the importance of equal pay and equal opportunities so that women can enjoy other rights that flow from them, such as civil and political rights, or economic and social rights. It noted that there has been progress but also many cases of non-compliance with the requirements of the European Social Charter.

The Council of Europe has "deeply regretted" Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, decided by a decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 19 March. The Council notes that the convention is "widely supported in the country" and that the decision was taken without any parliamentary debate.

Until 28 March, the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen is hosting an original creation by the choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in connection with an exhibition of sculptures by Auguste Rodin and Hans Arp. The contemporary choreography contrasts with the worlds of the two sculptors and echoes the exploration of the body's capacity for abstraction.

David Hockney's "My Normandy" exhibition at the Lelong & Co. gallery is now available online. It is possible to walk virtually through the room and admire paintings inspired by the region in which the American painter settled.

The Gdansk Amber Museum offers a unique virtual collection of natural ambers and art objects made from this plant resin. The most valuable objects in the collection come from the "golden period" of Gdansk's development, when the city was one of the most important centres of amber crafts and trade.

French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal were awarded the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in this field, on 16 March. The jury rewarded their architecture which "gives priority to enriching the human view through the prism of generosity and freedom of use".

The Liverpool Biennial began this spring under the title ''The Stomach and the Port'' and features contemporary artists from over 30 countries. Until 6 June, exhibitions are being held in parks, libraries, historic sites and art halls around the city of Liverpool. Online events are also planned.

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Malmö reopened on 16 March with the exhibition "Artist, Researcher, Medium", dedicated to the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), which has been extended until 11 April.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg is offering several concerts between now and the end of April, including on 25 March the Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 5 "L'Égyptien" by Camille Saint-Saëns and the Symphony No. 3 "Rheinische" / "Rhénane" by Robert Schumann.