On May 20, President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanovic (Social Democratic Party, SDP) called the 3.7 million Croatian voters to the polls on July 5 for a snap general election, which comes six months ahead of the originally planned date (the poll was originally scheduled for December), a decision taken by the ruling party, the Democratic Union (HDZ) of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, which intends to capitalise on the popularity enjoyed by the government in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The authorities also fear the development of a second wave of the epidemic next autumn. They fear that the coming economic crisis will undermine the current popularity of the HDZ.

The Foundation published the following studies in June:
- German presidency of the Council of the European Union: "... and suddenly everything is different." by Frank Baasner and Stefan Seidendorf
- Mediterranean Sea: a paradigm of contemporary conflicts by Amiral Jean Casabianca
- The multi-annual financial framework 2021/2027: to be the beacon by José Manuel Fernandes
- Restoring free movement in the Union by Éric Maurice, Thibault Besnier and Marianne Lazarovici
- Which kind of supply chain for Europe? by Laurent Lacroix
- Health Europe: from dream to reality? by Françoise Grossetête
- The impact of COVID-19 on EU citizens' rights in the United Kingdom by Alexandra Bulat
- The first round of the presidential election in Poland will finally take place on June 28 by Corinne Deloy
- Left and right running neck and neck in Croatia by Corinne Deloy
- Outgoing President Andrzej Duda and the Mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski will face each other during the second round of the Polish presidential election on July 12 by Corinne Deloy

Germany will assume the six-monthly rotating Presidency of the Council of the Union from 1 July. It is taking on this responsibility at a time when its goal of a "stronger, fairer and more sustainable" Europe is being challenged by the coronavirus crisis. For Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has just taken a major turning point by accepting a European loan, this also means preparing Europe's future before leaving office.

Outgoing President Andrzej Duda (Law and Justice, PiS) came out ahead in the first round of the presidential election in Poland on June 28. He won 43.67% of the vote and Rafal Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw and former Minister of Administration and Digital Affairs (2013-2014), candidate of the Civic Platform (PO) led by Grzegorz Schetyna, who obtained 30.34% of the votes. The two men will face on July 12 for a second round of voting.

Summer is here, cultural life is back and travel in Europe is possible again. For this last edition on the best of cultural Europe, the Foundation publishes a selection of shows to follow in July and August. Some of the biggest and most renowned festivals will not take place this year. But all over the continent, other festivals will be held, in reduced format or partially online.

From Dublin to Lviv, British author Owen Hatherley explores European cities to understand their urbanistic history and the making of their social fabric. Doing so, he questions what they have in common, and what makes us all Europeans.

The Foundation organised an online conference on the topic of the media and telecoms in Europe in times of Covid-19 with Roberto Viola, Director-General of DG CONNECT at the European Commission, Gérard Pogorel and Augusto Preta, authors of a recently published study by the Foundation on this topic

The COVID-19 crisis has shifted the debate on migration in the European Union. Previously labelled 'low skilled' workers, such as cleaners and delivery drivers, were the key workers assuring the functioning of essential services during this period. To unpack some of the European-level issues facing EU citizens living in another Member State, this paper focuses on case studies from EU citizens living in the United Kingdom. It is based on a series of testimonies on mainly two specific problems: access to social security and the impossibility of returning to one's country of residence.

After several weeks of exceptional measures of relative confinement, the Member States of the European Union are gradually resuming and reopening their activities. The Robert Schuman Foundation offers you a summary of the measures taken and the schedule provided by each State. An indispensable resource for understanding the way out of the crisis and to finding a European "spirit" again.

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented on 27 May a €750 billion recovery plan to revive the European economy affected by the Covid-19 crisis. This massive plan, based on unprecedented debt pooling and financial transfers, which has yet to be approved by the Member States, is an important step in the history of European integration.

04/06/2020 Faced with the health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Union is trying to deploy the various means at its disposal. Its ability to react and to be resilient for the future depends to a large extent on the Member States and their willingness to act together. As the Heads of State and Government meet by videoconference on 26 March to try to coordinate their response, the Foundation offers you a summary of all the measures taken at national and European level to date.

Although the place of the Western Balkans States in the European Union should not be questioned, vital reflection regarding the way in which the enlargment process has been conducted to date and its links to the European project is required, so that essential lessons can be drawn in view of true reform which would give the candidates States the means to consolidate and strenghten the Union.

Jean-Dominique Giuliani has contributed an article to the N° 34 of the magazine "The European - Security and Defence Union" where he states that "the European Union needs to change dimension and finally become more political".

You want to know everything about the EU? Test your knowledge!

03/02/2020 Christine Lagarde, the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), was received at the Foundation on 3 February.

The failures of certain merger projects like Alstom/Siemens call into question the inadequacy, or even obsolescence, of European competition law and its place in relation to other public policy objectives. Other challenges arise: on the one hand, the existing law faces the challenges raised by the digital economy; on the other hand, European competition law does not take sufficient account of international competition. Should a rebalancing not be carried out between competition policy and industrial policy so that the objectives of the latter can be deployed?