On 18 June, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Níkos Christodoulides, signed a joint declaration entitled "Europe for Culture, Culture for Europe". The aim of this declaration is to ensure a stronger political commitment to culture and to reaffirm the European Union's role in safeguarding cultural and linguistic diversity. Through the phrase "culture for Europe", the declaration recognises the role of culture as a unifying force, a creator of a common European identity and a key tool for addressing contemporary challenges.

On 19 June, at the 5th meeting of the Joint Council between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, leaders adopted a communiqué reaffirming their commitment to the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement and reporting on progress made in various areas such as trade and development cooperation.

On 25 June, the Council formally adopted two regulations implementing the tariff provisions of the EU-US Joint Statement. The two texts remove customs duties on US industrial products and provide for preferential access to the European market for certain seafood and agricultural products. These tariff commitments are accompanied by safeguard and suspension mechanisms. They enable the EU to suspend tariff preferences where the US fails to honour its commitments, and to act swiftly if such preferences lead to a significant increase in imports that threatens EU operators.

Until 11 October, the Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo is hosting a retrospective dedicated to Beatriz González. Bringing together more than 150 works, this exhibition pays tribute to the career – from the 1960s to the present day – of the Colombian painter who passed away earlier this year. Renowned for her visual language rooted in the social realities of her country, the artist depicts Colombia's wounds through press photographs, official portraits and ironic paintings characterised by stark contrasts of vivid colours.

Until 18 October, the Hayward Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition celebrating British artist Anish Kapoor, nearly 30 years after his first major retrospective in the UK. The artist's work explores spirituality and religion, drawing on Kapoor's experiments with Vantablack, a material that absorbs 99.9 per cent of light.

On 19 June, the European Commission gave the green light to Bulgaria's fourth payment request. However, the Commission noted that a milestone relating to water supply and sanitation had not been fully met, nor had a target linked to the cultural sector. Bulgaria will therefore receive a partial payment, out of the €1.1 billion requested, for the milestones and targets that have been met, and has been granted an extension to fulfil the remaining commitments. Bulgaria's total allocation under the Recovery and Resilience Plan amounts to €6.17 billion. The Foundation provides a summary of the various national recovery plans on its website, setting out the amounts, timetables and priorities.

On 1 July, the De Gasperi Foundation, in collaboration with the Robert Schuman Foundation, is organising a conference to mark the 75th anniversary of the Santa Margherita Ligure summit, the founding event of post-war European cooperation at which the Italian and French heads of government, Alcide De Gasperi and René Pleven, met, accompanied by the Foreign Ministers Carlo Sforza and Robert Schuman. In the presence of various political leaders, academics and representatives of institutions, discussions will focus on the current challenges facing European integration, particularly in the areas of security, competitiveness, the digital transition and strategic sovereignty.

On 22 June, France and Germany reached an agreement on the strategy and joint governance of KNDS, a European land defence company in which both countries intend to become co-shareholders. Furthermore, this agreement aims to see KNDS listed on the stock exchange in the near future, which would position it as a leading defence company in Europe and globally, serving both the French and German armed forces, and strengthen its competitiveness within the European land systems industry.

On 25 June, a summit between France and Italy was held in Antibes. Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni reiterated their shared commitment to achieving a more united, sovereign, democratic and competitive Europe. They agreed to deepen their bilateral cooperation, particularly in the political, economic, agricultural, social, educational, scientific and cultural spheres, as well as in the industrial and innovation sectors. Furthermore, after reaffirming their support for Ukraine and welcoming the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran, they indicated their intention to further strengthen Franco-Italian cooperation on foreign, security and defence policies across all sectors.

On 22 June, European Union leaders and the Moldovan President, Maia Sandu, adopted a joint declaration following the second EU–Moldova summit. The parties reiterated their commitment to accelerating Moldova's accession process, just a few days after the opening of the first round of negotiations. The EU welcomed the reforms undertaken by Chișinău and confirmed its political, economic and security support, notably through the Growth Plan for Moldova, of which €504 million has already been disbursed, whilst a further €528 million could be mobilised by 2027. The summit served to strengthen cooperation on energy, digital issues, security and the fight against hybrid threats, against a backdrop marked by the war in Ukraine and Russian pressure in the region.

On 18 June, the defence ministers of NATO member states met in Brussels ahead of the Alliance's summit, scheduled for 7 and 8 July in Ankara. On this occasion, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressed the participants of the 35th Contact Group on Defence for Ukraine (Ramstein format), calling for increased military support for Kyiv. In particular, he called for the PURL programme to be expanded, outlined a new German-Ukrainian partnership in the field of ballistic missile defence, and welcomed the supply of 150,000 drones as well as 350 British air defence missiles and radars, whilst calling for economic pressure on Russia to be maintained.

On 16 June, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report stating that the quality of bathing waters in Europe remains high: 85 per cent of the approximately 22,200 sites monitored are classified as 'excellent' and 96 per cent meet at least the minimum standards set by the European Bathing Water Directive. Coastal waters continue to be rated higher than inland waters (88 per cent versus 78 per cent of excellent quality).

On 18 June, the European Court of Auditors published a report on the European Commission's anti-fraud strategy. The auditors consider that, despite the progress made in recent years, the EU system still has a number of shortcomings in terms of preventing, detecting and following up on fraud, which is detrimental to the EU budget. The Court has made several recommendations to strengthen the protection of the EU's financial interests and to improve the effectiveness of its anti-fraud policy.

On 22 June, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation from the steps of 10 Downing Street, bowing to mounting pressure from Labour MPs following weeks of political instability. Having come to power in July 2024 following a landslide victory for Labour, he was unable to withstand a series of setbacks: a heavy defeat in the May 2026 local elections, which saw the anti-immigration Reform UK party make significant gains, as well as the rise of Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, who won, on 19 June, the Makerfield by-election with 54.8 per cent of the vote. As the favourite to succeed him, Andy Burnham has been elected to Westminster. With this resignation, the United Kingdom will have had seven Prime Ministers in ten years.