Italy
Financial Crisis
In the fourth quarter of 2009 the GDP decreased by 0.3% in comparison with the previous quarter and by 3% in comparison with the same period in 2008... No confidence
Ukraine
On 3rd March the Ukrainian parliament voted a motion of no-confidence against Yulia Tymoshenko's government thereby heralding the end of the... Referendum/Iceland
Foundation
Nearly all of the Icelanders who turned out to vote on 6th March in the referendum on the law on the Icesave agreement rejected the text: 93% voted... Nabucco
Turkey
On 4th March the Turkish parliament ratified the intergovernment agreement to build the European gas pipeline Nabucco. The Nabucco project aims to... Greece
Financial Crisis
On 3rd March the Greek government presented a draft law entitled "emergency measures to face the financial crisis" which includes 20 articles; it... Waste
Italy
Italy still does not have an adequate network to dispose of waste in the Naples region of la Campania said the EU Court of Justice on 4th March in a... Macedonia
Financial Crisis
On 6th March the Macedonian government revealed a new series of measures to counter the effects of the world economic crisis. This "anti-crisis plan"... Women
Parliament
On the occasion of International Women's Day on 8th March MEPs discussed the numerous challenges that still have to be met in terms of parity:... Spain
Germany
On 1st March German Chancellor Angela Merkel received Spanish Head of Government José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as part of a series of German-Spanish... ECB
Financial Crisis
On 4th March the European Central Bank (ECB) left its main rate at its lowest level ever (1%) - a status quo that is due to continue to the backdrop... Europe/Power
Studies/Reports
Garnet (Globlal, Governance, Regionalisation & Regulation: The role of the EU) has published a report by Zaki Laïdi entitled "Europe as a risk averse... GDP
Eurostat
In the fourth quarter of 2009 the GDP in the euro area and that of the EU increased by 0.1% in comparison with the previous quarter according to... Education
Hungary
20% of European students are due be able to study abroad every year as from 2020 said the Hungarian Education Minister Istvan Hiller on 11th March as... Italy
Commission
The European Commission put forward a legislative measure on 9th March to help citizens exercise their right to a fair trial in Europe when they do... Iraq
UK
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was auditioned by the Commission of Inquiry into British commitment in Iraq. He said "I believe that we took the... Southern Caucasus
Poland
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk travelled to Azerbaijan on 10th and 12th March - he also went to Georgia and Armenia. His visit to Azerbaijan was... Archives/Gulag
Culture
On 10th March Radio France Internationale (RFI) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) launched the first "audio-archives" of the... Appointment
NATO
The Chief of Staff of the French Army, Stéphane Abrial was appointed "Supreme Allied Commander for the Transformation" of NATO on 29th July. This... Facebook
Foundation
The Schuman Foundation is now on Facebook. The arrival of spring brings a flourish of new opportunities - come and discover our profile - "Robert... EU/Morocco
Council
The EU and Morocco have expressed their desire to build their partnership in terms of external relations on sharing common democratic values, the... Council
General Affairs and External Relations
On 27th July the 27 Foreign Ministers called on the Commission to issue an opinion on the request for EU membership on the part of Iceland. They... Commission
Loans
The European Commission paid the second part of its loan to Latvia to a total of 1.2 billion euros on 27th July together with the first payment of... Iceland
Financial Crisis
The unemployment rate in Iceland rose again in February to reach 9.3% of the working population in comparison with 9% in January said the Icelandic... External Operations
Italy
The Italian Chamber of Representatives approved the decision to extend Italian military participation in international missions by six months,... Exhibition/Amsterdam
Culture
75 paintings by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Kazimir Malevitch and other "pioneers of moden art" lent by the Hermitage Museum of Saint-Petersburg... Employment/Health
Council
On 8th March the 27 European Employment and Healthcare Ministers voted on the action to take to eradicate violence against women in the Union... Museum/Chopin
Culture
An ultramodern museum devoted to Frederik Chopin was inaugurated on 1st March in Warsaw on the occasion of the bicentary of his birth. Lying in the... Colombia/Peru
Council
On 1st March the EU negotiated a free-trade agreement with Peru and Colombia which will lead to the liberalisation of trade. The agreement notably... Debt
Studies/Reports
The Centre for European Studies in Brussels has just published research by Michael Wohlgemuth entitled "Avoiding the Debt Trap: Public Finances in... Belgium
Italy
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano travelled to Brussels on 3rd March where he met European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, members of the... EU
Ukraine
On 1st March Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich travelled to Brussels on his first journey abroad. He was guest to Herman Van Rompuy, President of... Diplomacy
Parliament
MEPs voted on 10th March on several foreign policy issues. They asked to be consulted regularly before the launch of joint security and defence... Russia
France
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a State visit to France from 1st to 3rd March. The Russian and French... Telephony
Commission
Since March 1st European mobile telephone operators must offer their clients a limit to their mobile internet bill abroad. According to a regulation... Justice
Germany
The German Constitutional Court demanded on 2nd March that all data relative to the telecommunications of citizens that had been saved since 2008 be... Interim Government
Belgium
Outgoing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt succeeded in reaching agreement on 19th December to form an interim government until 23rd March next... Schuman Report
Foundation
The Robert Schuman Foundation has just published the fourth edition of "The State of the Union 2010, Schuman Report on Europe" with the publishing... France
Armenia
The President of the French Republic Nicolas Sarkozy hosted a lunch for his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkissian on 10th March. The two men... Greece
Financial Crisis
The Greek Finance Minister gave his monthly report to the European Commission on 8th March on the implementation of the stability and growth... Agency/Debt
Financial Crisis
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme is proposing the creation of a Finance Ministry or a European Debt Agency (EDA) for the euro area to manage... Finland
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov travelled to Finland on 2nd and 3rd March on the invitation of his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb.... Europe
Publications
Jean-Dominique Giuliani, Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation made a contribution to the special insert "Recomposer l'Europe. Tendances et jeu... Carbon
Studies/Reports
The Center for European Reform has just published a study by Stephen Tindale and Simon Tilford entitled "Carbon Capture and Storage: What the EU... Energy
Parliament
On 11th March MEPs adopted 444 votes in favour, 88 against a resolution on the development plan for CO2 poor technologies. They are asking for... Inflation
Eurostat
According to a rapid estimation published by Eurostat on 2nd March, the annual inflation rate in the euro area lay at 0.9% in February 2010. In... Armenia
USA
On 4th March the Foreign Affairs Committee of the American Chamber of Representatives approved a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide by... ECB
Financial Crisis
On 10th March ECB Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet declared that the European Central Bank (ECB) was not rejecting the idea of a European Monetary Fund... Italy
Financial Crisis
According to Istat the Italian GDP decreased by 3% in 2009 in comparison with 2008 with a contraction in all economic sectors although on various... Iceland
Financial Crisis
Iceland's GDP declined by 6.5% in 2009 ie a record annual decline for the country's economy announced the National Statistics Office. In 2008 the GDP... Counterfeiting
Parliament
In a resolution adopted on 10th March 633 votes in favour, 13 against MEPs encourage initiatives that aim to protect intellectual property rights,... Industry
Eurostat
According to estimates published by Eurostat on 12th March industrial production increased by 1.7% in the euro area and by 1.8% in the Union in... European Monetary Fund
Germany
During a meeting in Luxembourg on 9th March with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel provided her support... Patents
Spain
The Spanish Industry, Tourism and Trade Minister, Miguel Sebastian presented the first strategic plan to promote industrial property on 9th March... Balkans
European Council
After a meeting on 5th March with the new Croatian Head of State Ivo Josipovic, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy asked... Tobacco
Court of Justice
On 4th March the European Court of Justice condemned the minimum prices set by France, Austria and Ireland on cigarettes and certain tobacco products... Euro Area
Financial Crisis
Eurogroup Chair and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker spoke in support of the creation of a European ratings agency that would be placed... Germany/France
Greece
German Chancellor Angela Merkel endeavoured on 5th March to calm tension between her country and Greece congratulating Athens on its work and saying... Referendum
Iceland
According to the almost final results published on 7th March (using a base of 130,575 counted voting slips) the Icelanders answered "no" - 93.2% - to... Arms
Studies/Reports
An arms race has brought some poor countries into conflict over the last five years - however the money devoted to the purchase of arms and fighter... Debate/Barnier
Foundation
EurActiv.fr together with the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a debate with Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and... Balkans
Albania
According to a joint declaration published on 5th march after a meeting in Tirana the Interior Ministers of five western Balkan countries (Albania,... Women/Men
Commission
The European Commission has promised to address the 18% gap in pay between men and women in the EU. The gap lies at 4.9% in Italy, 17.1% in Spain,... Consumers
Parliament
MEPs adopted three resolutions on 8th March with regard to the protection of consumers and the internal market. For the internal market to work... Elections
Moldova
Together the four main opposition parties won the early general elections in Moldova with 50.7% of the vote and 53 MPs ahead of the Communist Party... Treaty ratified
Italia
Italian deputies have voted at the unanimity on july, 31th the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, just one week after the positive vote from the... Trade
Eurostat
According to data published by Eurostat on 11th March the EU's current account recorded a deficit of 27 billion euros during the fourth quarter of... Government
Ukraine
The Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich succeeded on 11th March in forming a parliamentary coalition. This was made possible by the adoption of a... GMO
Commission
On 2nd March the European Commission announced its intention to present a proposal by the summer aiming to allow Member States greater freedom to... Latvia
Financial Crisis
On 11th March the EU paid out the third part of a community loan of 3.1 billion euros granted to Latvia which was decided upon in January 2009. This... Defence
France
On 5th March European Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton was the guest of French Defence Minister Hervé Morin. They agreed on the need to establish a... Energy
Sweden
Maud Olofsson, Swedish Business and Energy Minister announced in an article published in the daily Dagens Nyheter that Sweden is to increase... Energy
Romania
The Romanian government decided that the country's second nuclear power station will be built in Transylvania but its exact position will depend on... Sweden
Financial Crisis
Sweden is due to recover quicker than planned from the economic crisis due to unemployment which will not increase as much as feared, said the... France
Financial Crisis
According to figures published by INSEE on 5th March the unemployment level according to the International Labour Office (ILO), lay at 10% of the... Balkans
Belgium
Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme was in Macedonia on 8th March to meet his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski. They notably discussed the... Investments
France
In 2009 France was the third country to receive direct foreign investment (DFI) in the world, to a total of 65 billion dollars indicated the latest... Industry
Eurostat
According to figures published on 2nd March by Eurostat the industrial price index increased by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU in... Education
Commission
The report "Focus on higher education in Europe 2010: impact of the Bologna process" presented on 8th March by the European Commission reveals that... EIB
Financial Crisis
The European Investment Bank (EIB) delivered an unprecedented volume of effective funding for the recovery of Europe and Greece. The EIB proved to be... Slovenia
Financial Crisis
Slovenia's GDP declined by 7.8% over 2009 as a whole according to figures published on 1st March by the Slovenian statistics office. It is the first... Afghanistan
UK
On 10th March British Foreign Minister, David Miliband gave a speech on Afghanistan at the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT). He notably... France/EU
Studies/Reports
The German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) has published a study by Claire Demesmay and Andreas Marchetti entitled "Frankreich ist Frankreich ist... Women/Men
Studies/Reports
The share of women working across the globe has increased significantly over the last 30 years but their work is still less well paid and more menial... Diplomacy
Council
On 5th and 6th March the 27 EU Foreign Ministers debated the establishment of a European External Action Service. Debate was intense, notably with... Germany/Knights
Culture
Just as the Ruhr is the European Capital of Culture this year the archeological museum of Herne is playing on words and is organising an exhibition... Spain
Financial Crisis
Data published by the public employment services indicate a rise in the number of unemployed (+82,132) in Spain in February. The number of ... Climate
Commission
On 9th March the European Commission presented a strategy to boost the fight against climate change and to implement rapidly the Copenhagen... Immigration
UK
On March 1st the 2010 strategy was launched by the British Border Agency entitled "International Challenges, International Solutions: Managing the... Cybercrime
Spain
On 3rd March Spain announced that it had foiled the biggest world network of "zombie computers". This involved over 13 million pirated machines,... Women/Men
Eurostat
On the occasion of International Women's Day on 8th March Eurostat has published statistics on the situation of women and men in the EU. According to... Germany
France
French Prime Minister François Fillon travelled to Berlin on 10th March. After giving a conference to the students of the Humboldt University he held... Nuclear
France
On 8th March French President Nicolas Sarkozy pleaded in favour of the world development of civil nuclear activities notably in poor countries... Resignation
Slovenia
Slovenian Agricultural Minister Milan Pogacnik resigned on 10th March the day after his arrest because of a corruption scandal. "I am resigning... Competition
60th Anniversary/Schuman Declaration
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration the European-France Movement and the Young Europeans-France under the patronage of... Exhibition/Rembrandt
Culture
Until 21st April the Bydgoszocz Museum is devoting an exhibition to drawings and prints by Rembrandt. The exhibition is presenting work borrowed from... Competitiveness
Council
On 1st and 2nd March the 27 European Industry and Research Ministers adopted measures to foster the mobility of researchers and the establishment of... Germany
Financial Crisis
Just as the Bundestag is looking into the German budget for 2010 German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble confirmed in an interview published on 3rd... Balkans
Belgium
After a press conference on 5th March with his Serb counterpart Mirko Cvetkovic Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that Belgium "was no longer... Economy
Publications
The countries in the east and south of Europe are due to recover growth in 2011, but at lower levels than before the crisis according to forecasts... Jerzy Buzek
Bulgaria
Jerzy Buzek, the President European Parliament, travelled to Bulgaria on 3rd March where he attended the ceremonies of the Bulgarian national day... Visas
Parliament
On 9th March MEPs adopted, 562 votes in favour, 29 against a regulation authorising citizens from third countries with a long stay visa delivered by... Poland
Austria
The Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger travelled to Warsaw on 3rd March where he met his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski.... A400M
Defence
On 5th March seven customer nations (Germany, France, UK, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey) came to a principle agreement in Berlin to accept the... Women/Men
Eurobarometer
According to a Eurobarometer survey published on 5th March the business world is "dominated by men who do not trust women enough" say three quarters... Balkans
France
During his visit on March 1st and 2nd to Serbia and Kosovo French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner explained to the authorities in Belgrade that the... Finland
Slovenia
Slovenian President Danilo Türk travelled to Finland as part of a State visit from 8th to 10th March. He met his Finnish counterpart, Tarja Halonen... Norway
Studies/Reports
The OECD published an economic study on Norway which shows that this country has surmounted the financial crisis better than most of the other OECD... Independence
Lithuania
Lithuania celebrated the 20th anniversary of its independence on 11th March after having been annexed to the Soviet Union for 45 years. This 20th... Debate/Barnier
Foundation
EurActiv.fr, notably together with the Robert Schuman Foundation, is organising a debate with Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the Internal... High-Tech
Germany
On 1st March Chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the Cebit exhibition in Hannover whose guest of honour this year was Spain. Until 6th March the... Elections/Hungary
Foundation
On 11th and 25th April the Hungarians are being invited to renew the 386 members of the Orszaggyules, the only chamber in Parliament, elected for... Russia
Ukraine
After Europe Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich travelled to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev. During the press conference... Fiscality
Spain
The Spanish government approved a plan to counter fiscal fraud on 5th March, this included 60 measures that should lead to the recovery of annual... EU/USA
Studies/Reports
The German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) has just published a study by Josef Braml entitled "Onkel Dagobert in Nöten. Auswirkungen der... Statistics
Greece
On 4th March the Greek Finance Minister presented the draft law entitled "Greek Statistics System. Creation of the Greek Statistics Authority 'ELSTA'... Parliament
European Council
The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy met the parliamentary groups of the EPP and the S&D on 3rd March. He said that his main... Unemployment
Eurostat
According to provisional data published on 15th March by the European Statistics Office, Eurostat, the number of people employed in the euro area... Carbon Tax
Eurobarometer
An survey undertaken by Eurobarometer and published on 29th July shows that Europeans do not support the idea of a special tax on products that are... Growth/Employment
Commission
On 3rd March the European Commission launched the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and employment. The Commission wants to promote smart growth...