The fifth edition of the unique Permanent Atlas of the European Union provides a comprehensive and easily accessible overview of the European Union, the euro area and each of its 27 Member States. It is available in hard copy on our website and in bookshops, or in digital form.

The EU and its allies condemn the hybrid attack carried out by the Belarusian regime on the Polish border using migrants. Foreign ministers adopted sanctions on 15 November against persons and entities involved in human trafficking. To follow the latest developments in the crisis opened by the rigged presidential election of August 2020 and the repression of the democratic opposition, the Foundation offers you a chronology of events and links to European responses and initiatives.

In Austria, unvaccinated people are to be confined as of 15 November and for at least 10 days. In the Netherlands, bars and restaurants must close at 8pm and non-essential shops at 6pm, at least until early December. In Germany, in Saxony, non-vaccinated people can no longer enter bars and restaurants, sports halls and hairdressers. Denmark has decided to reintroduce the health pass. In France, masks are compulsory in all schools, and from 15 December, a third dose of vaccine will be required for those over 65 to obtain the health pass. To follow developments in the situation and learn about the measures in force in the various EU Member States, the Foundation offers you a complete map of the measures in force. An indispensable resource, regularly updated.

On 10 November, the Commission launched three programmes with a total budget of €1.98 billion to improve digital Europe. The first programme focuses on investing in artificial intelligence and expanding the use of digital data in society. The second will fund cybersecurity projects and the third will create a network of European digital innovation clusters.

In its economic forecasts published on 11 November, the Commission expects growth of 5% for 2021 and 4.3% for 2022 in the EU, up from 4.2% and 4.4% last summer. It believes that the lifting of restrictions and the NextGenerationEU programme are helping the post-pandemic recovery, but it stresses that the latter is highly dependent on the evolution of the health crisis and the pace at which supply adjusts to the rapid recovery in demand.

On 12 November, the Commission adopted an emergency plan to ensure food supply and security in times of crisis, including the establishment of a group of supply chain experts to avoid shortages.

Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic received the British Minister for Brexit David Frost on 12 November to discuss the application of the Northern Ireland Protocol. He noted a willingness to cooperate but recalled the importance of finding an agreement quickly. He insisted in particular on the issue of the supply of medicines by Great Britain in Northern Ireland and said he was ready to modify the European legislation on the matter. Both sides agreed to step up discussions before a further meeting on 19 November.

On 11 November, MEPs approved the creation of the EU Asylum Agency, which will replace the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). The agency will assist States in processing applications for international protection and in implementing the European asylum system. A post of Fundamental Rights Officer will be created. From 2023 onwards, the agency will monitor the proper application by States of the criteria for assessing asylum applications. The text has now to be adopted by the Council.

The second virtual citizens' panel of the Conference on the Future of Europe was held from 12 to 14 November, on the theme of democracy and European values, the rule of law and security. Two further panels will be held between now and the end of November. Their conclusions will be presented in December or January to the conference's plenary assembly. All Europeans can contribute to the debates on the conference platform.

The Council and the Parliament reached an agreement on 15 November on the EU's 2022 budget. The ceiling for payment appropriations was set at €170.6 billion and for commitment appropriations at €169.5 billion. The budget will focus on economic recovery and the green and digital transitions.

The Council decided on 11 November to extend for one year the restrictive measures against Turkey for its unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. The sanctions take the form of an asset freeze and an EU travel ban for the individuals concerned, as well as a ban on EU citizens and entities making funds available to the listed individuals. Two people are currently affected by these sanctions.

Meeting on 11 November, trade ministers discussed the reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and trade relations with the US. They discussed the expected outcome of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, which will take place from 30 November to 3 December. Ministers stressed the importance of a constructive transatlantic agenda with the US.

The Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries, meeting on 15 November, adopted conclusions on the new European forestry strategy for 2030. They discussed the impact of rising energy prices on the market for agricultural products.

The General Court of the European Union confirmed on 10 November the €2.42 billion penalty imposed by the Commission on Google in 2017 for abuse of a dominant position. The Court, which was referred to by Google, found that by favouring its own product comparator on its results pages to the detriment of a product that would lead to better results, Google failed to comply with competition rules.

The Covid-19 crisis has fuelled the rise of cybercrime in all its forms. The extension of confinements has brought a number of new online trading opportunities, which have often proved to be a target for criminals," Europol said on 11 November in its annual cybercrime report.

According to a European Environment Agency report published on 15 November, fine particle pollution caused 307,000 deaths in the European Union in 2019, an alarming figure that has fallen by more than 10% in one year. This decrease is partly due to favourable weather conditions, but mainly to the continued gradual improvement of air quality in Europe. However, more than half of these lives could be saved if Member States met the new air quality targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published a report on 9 November calling on the Spanish authorities to resolutely prevent ill-treatment in prison. The Committee proposes measures to improve the treatment of prisoners and patients deprived of their liberty in prison psychiatric hospitals.

Several heads of state and government gathered in Paris on 12 November to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). On 9 November, the Secretary General of the organisation, Audrey Azoulay, was re-elected for a second 4-year term.

On 12 November, the Commission published the Digital Economy and Society Index 2021 (DESI), which measures the progress made by countries in terms of digital competitiveness. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the index shows an overall progress of countries in terms of digitisation but it points to large inequalities.

Until 13 February 2022, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris is celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Baudelaire's birth with an exhibition exploring the defining role played by the experience of melancholy in his work.

Until 9 January 2022, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh is devoting an exhibition to Alison Watt, one of the leading figures in contemporary Scottish art. Fascinated by Allan Ramsay, the 18th century Scottish painter who painted portraits of the philosophers David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, she draws inspiration from his work and compares it to her own.

The National Museum of Romania in Bucharest is devoting an exhibition to the itinerary of the Henry Moore exhibition in Bucharest, Bratislava, Prague and Budapest in 1966 and 1967 until 2 February 2022. Through the analysis of the reception of Moore's work in each of these cities, the exhibition contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the cultural policies of the 1960s between the West and the East of the continent.

The 19th edition of the Zagreb Film Festival, which focuses on the promotion of young and upcoming filmmakers, runs until 21 November. Five awards are up for grabs in the categories: feature film, short film, Croatian film, "Together Again" (for filmmakers who have competed in the past) and regional film.

Until 31 December 2023, the Kunsthalle Hamburg is offering a comparison of Impressionism on both sides of the Rhine. The exhibition "Impressionism. Franco-German Encounters" compares the similarities and differences of paintings in the two countries around themes such as portraiture, landscape and "city and leisure". The museum is also presenting "From Menzel to Monet", an exhibition drawn from the personal collection of the Wolffson family, until 27 February 2022.

From 18 November to 20 March 2022, the Warsaw Museum of History tells the story of women who worked as domestic servants in Warsaw. In an exhibition called "Invisible. Stories of Warsaw's domestic servants", 400 historical and contemporary objects are brought together to tell the story of these women servants, who numbered 40,000 each year at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Fondation Baur-Musée des Arts d'Extrême-Orient in Geneva is devoting an exhibition to Aveyron artist Pierre Soulages and Japanese sculptor Tanabe Chikuunsai IV until 27 March 2022. The works by the two artists on display interact through the use of contrasting light and colour.

Until January 16, 2022, the Paintings Gallery in Berlin is hosting an exhibition celebrating the 200th anniversary of the acquisition of the Solly Collection. The English dealer Edward Solly collected thousands of paintings by artists such as Giotto, Botticelli and Van Eyck, mainly from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

Until November 28th, the town of Saint-Tropez is organising an exhibition which allows visitors to discover fragments of the lives of soldiers and sailors of the First Empire from the peninsula and the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. On this occasion, a day of conferences, entitled "Les combattants de la Liberté" (Freedom fighters), is organised on November 20th.

The Montagne Sainte-Geneviève association welcomes the historian Jean Tulard, on 25 November at 6pm, for a conference on the battle of Marengo, "Bonaparte's strange victory" in 1799.