On 20 February, Austria's two centrist political parties announced that they had entered into negotiations with a view to forming a coalition that would exclude the far-right FPÖ party. Negotiations between the conservative ÖVP and the FPÖ failed last week. As a result, Austria is experiencing its longest period without a government since the Second World War. If the negotiations fail, the possibility of a snap general election could emerge, giving the FPÖ an opportunity to improve on its 29% share of the vote in the September elections and consolidate its position as the country's largest party.

The Commission published an electoral toolkit for national legislators on 20 February. The toolkit provides practical details on how the electoral guidelines in the legislation on digital services can be applied during electoral processes. This will focus in particular on reducing risks on very large online platforms and search engines, particularly on the issue of hate speech, online harassment or the manipulation of public opinion.

From 28 February to 15 June, the National Museum of Oslo is staging the exhibition 'From Darkness to Light', featuring works of art from 1875 to 1925, as well as European medieval and Renaissance creations from Northern Europe. Through this selection, the exhibition explores themes such as faith and doubt, love and sexuality, as well as identity and social roles.

To introduce the exhibition commemorating its fiftieth anniversary, the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona is presenting a reconstruction of three exhibitions by painters and sculptors from the 1970s and 1980s, from 28 February to 18 May. Three representative projects have been selected in chronological order: the exhibitions of Fina Miralles (1979), Susana Solano (1980) and Eva Lootz (1986), to highlight the talent and creativity of artists committed to feminism.

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw is presenting the exhibition 'The Impermanent' until 5 October. The first part of the exhibition presents works linked to political commitment and a belief in the power of art to make a difference, while the second brings together works expressing consumerist desires, a fascination with pop culture, advertising and the mass media, in societies that experienced the economic boom and the onslaught of consumerism after the Second World War, but also in the poorest 'peripheral' countries of Eastern Europe and the Global South.

From 27 February to 31 August 2025, the Tate Modern Museum presents an exhibition devoted to Leigh Bowery, the unclassifiable Australian artist who left his mark on fashion and underground culture in the 1980s and 1990s. Through a selection of his most daring looks, this retrospective explores his impact on contemporary aesthetics and his influence, which can still be seen in today's top designers. A chance to discover Bowery's subversive genius and vibrant legacy.

On 20 February, the ECB published its financial statements for 2024. They show a loss of €7.9 billion, compared with €1.3 billion in 2023, and state that these losses will be offset by future profits. This difference can be explained by the use in 2023 of the provision for financial risks, which had reduced the loss by more than 6.6 billion euros. As this provision had a zero balance for 2024, it could not be used to mitigate the losses. The ECB justifies these losses by the fulfilment of its main task of maintaining price stability and warns that it could incur further losses in the years to come, even if they should be smaller than those of 2023 and 2024.

In 2016, Jean-Dominique Giuliani was already arguing for a Europe of defence. With a draft treaty for the defence and security of Europe, he proposes to strengthen solidarity between France, Germany and the United Kingdom, to increase their defence efforts and to go beyond the NATO-EU division while respecting the bilateral or European choices of each country.

'It is rather more a period of great risk, a moment of truth for a continent that is once again confronted with war and must face up to it, including militarily.' An expansionist and dictatorial spectre hangs over Europe, faced with an unstable position from its historic American ally. There can be no negotiations on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict without the Europeans, who will dictate the outcome.'

The European Commission approved Ireland's amended plan under the Recovery and Resilience Facility on 17 February. The Council of the European Union did the same on 18 February for the Belgian and Latvian plans. Lastly, payments of €1.18 billion and €128 million are due to be made shortly under the same facility for the Netherlands and Denmark, following a positive assessment by the European Commission. To follow developments in the post-Covid recovery plan you can visit the page on the Robert Schuman Foundation website dedicated to this subject.

On 20 February, UK Defence Secretary John Healey travelled to northern Norway, close to the border with Russia, to meet his Norwegian counterpart Bjørn Arild Gram and strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries. The objectives of this new partnership include the consolidation of the armed forces, industrial cooperation and the reinforcement of the protection of critical underwater infrastructures. This initiative is part of the UK's increased commitment to European security and to NATO, particularly in the face of Russia's militarisation of the Arctic and threats of US military disengagement from Europe.

According to a report by the European Environment Agency published on 19 February, the European Union is only partially meeting its objectives for the 2030 target despite the progress that has been made. The agency is therefore calling for more decisive action to boost the circular economy, reverse the negative trend in biodiversity and reduce the EU's carbon footprint. Despite certain factors showing convincing progress, the majority of indicators are not following a trend that would allow them to reach the targets set for 2030 in time.

Following on from the summit on Ukraine on 17 February, French President Emmanuel Macron organised another extraordinary conference on Ukraine on 19 February. Faced with the reversal of US foreign policy, he discussed with the leaders of the 19 countries invited the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and Ukraine's place in the peace negotiations. Following the summit, the Head of State answered questions from the public on Ukraine and security in Europe on social networks.

On 24 February, to mark the three-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union adopted its 16ᵉ package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. These wide-ranging restrictive measures target key sectors of the Russian economy, such as finance and banking, trade, energy and transport, in order to reduce Russia's ability to continue its illegal war in Ukraine. The new sanctions package also includes measures against Belarus, in line with those adopted against Russia.

On the 3rd anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the Presidents of the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament reiterated their unwavering support for the Ukrainian people and denounced Russia's sole responsibility for the conflict. Since the beginning of the war, the European Union has provided more than 135 billion euros in aid to Ukraine, contributing to its economic, humanitarian and military support. Finally, the European leaders stressed the need for transatlantic and international solidarity to guarantee a lasting peace. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, published a report on 21 February highlighting the actions taken by the Organisation to support Ukraine since the start of the war. The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, gave a speech on the same day, reiterating the Organisation's commitment to Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity.