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Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) easily won the second round of the presidential election with 53.06% of the vote versus 46.94% for Ségolène Royal (PS). The participation rate rose to 83.97% ie one of the highest ever recorded under the V Republic. On 16th May the new president will officially take office succeeding Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic since 1995. Nicolas Sarkozy will then become the 23rd President of the Republic of France.

On 12th May next Icelanders are being called to vote to renew the 63 members of the Althing, the only House in Parliament. Just a few days from the election the Independence Party (SJ) led by Prime Minister Geir H Haarde is in the lead as far as voting intentions are concerned in all the polls with around 40% of the vote. It is followed by the main opposition party, the Social Democrat Alliance (SF) which is due to win between 20% and 25% of the vote. The main uncertainty involves the composition of the coalition which will form the government.

The Constitutional Court which received a complaint from the opposition party, the People's Republican Party (CHP) has just annulled the first round of the presidential election that took place on 27th April because the quorum of MPs present that day was not reached and therefore the Constitution was not respected. A new first round took place on 6th May but Abdullah Gül, the only candidate running did not achieve the necessary 2/3 majority. He has abandoned his bid to stand. Early general elections will take place on 22nd July next.

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern will be running for a third consecutive term in office in the general elections that will be held in Ireland on 24th May. The country's economic situation is good. The situation in Northern Ireland has settled. Will this be enough to win? Which coalition will result from this election? The electoral system in Ireland is indeed quite unique.

On 12th May next 2.32 million Armenians will be voting to elect the 131 MPs of the Azgayin Zhoghov, the only house in Parliament. The parties in power, the Republican Party and Prosperous Armenia, are ahead in terms of voting intentions with 13.1% and 11.1% of the vote respectively. Many observers will be present to ensure that the vote takes place according to the rules.

Warsaw will be celebrating Europe on 12th May during the "Schuman Parade" organised by the Polish Robert Schuman Foundation in partnership with the Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the European Parliament; Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, Anna Fotyga, Polish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallström, European Commission Vice President and Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy will be present.

Although they have different points of view about the quotas of CO2 gases the USA and the EU, which met at a summit in Washington on 30th April, promised for the first time ever to fight together against global warming. They decided to work together to develop new fuels and power stations that did not release CO2.After talks with the American President Angela Merkel, the present President of the EU and German Chancellor qualified this decision as a 'major step forwards'.

To the backdrop of the summit between the EU and the USA on 30th April an agreement was officially signed with regard to "open skies" deregulating trans-Atlantic flights. "This agreement is both a centrepiece to a reinvigorated trans-Atlantic relationship and a major step forward for the international aviation industry," said European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot. It will be applied as from 30th March 2008.

The European Union warmly welcomes the launching of the International Compact with Iraq in Sharm El Sheikh on 3rd May 2007. It reaffirms its strong support for the democratically-elected Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people in the challenging circumstances facing the country, and for their efforts to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity to their country.The overall financial assistance by the European Community and EU Member States since 2003 has amounted to 14,2 billion euros. European financial assistance in 2007 is anticipated to reach 1,8 billion euros. The EU looks forward to close co-operation with the Iraqi Government and its international partners in advancing the Government's programme based on the commitments made.

The European Union and the Russian Federation held the fifth round of their intergovernmental Consultations on human rights issues on 3rd May. The meeting, covered the human rights situation in the EU and Russia as well as issues relating to the international protection of human rights. EU representatives raised a number of specific concerns about the human rights situation in Russia, in particular regarding freedom of opinion and assembly, above all in the run-up to the parliamentary and presidential elections. Other concerns raised related to freedom of the press, the position of Russian non-governmental organizations(NGOs)and civil society and the situation in Chechnya.

On 2nd May the European Commission published a Green Paper in which it gives its vision for future EU policy on retail financial services, which are financial products such as bank accounts, loans, mortgages, investments and insurance provided to individual consumers. The Green Paper aims to strengthen and deepen the Commission's understanding of the problems faced by consumers and industry in this area, to set out the Commission's overarching objectives and to highlight areas where more work may be needed. The Commission welcomes comments on the Green Paper by 16th July 2007.

The European Commission has adopted the mid-term review of the Sixth Community Action Programme for the Environment which shows positive results. The Commission has also adopted its Annual Environment Policy Review for 2006, which reports on EU policy developments last year and looks in some detail at Member States' policy performance. It shows that climate change is higher on the political agenda than ever before and that policy has progressed on issues such as the revised sustainable development strategy, the REACH chemicals regulation and the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on "biofuel issues in the new legislation on the promotion of renewable energy", addressing issues such as how to achieve a 10% biofuel share and how to ensure environmental sustainability.The Commission is looking for the views of public authorities, businesses, non-governmental organisations and other interested parties on four questions: How should a biofuel sustainability system be designed? How should overall effects on land use be monitored? How should the use of second-generation biofuels be encouraged? What further action is needed to make it possible to achieve a 10% biofuel share? The consultation will run until 4th June.

Over the last twelve months, the euro-area economy has gone from strength to strength. The euro-area grew by 2.7% in 2006, its fastest growth rate since 2000, and well-above its long-term average. Employment growth accelerated to around 1.5% in 2006, yielding an increase of close to 2 million new jobs and inflation remained around 2%. These undoubted achievements put EMU on a strong footing to face the challenges which still lie ahead. These include raising potential growth, enhancing adjustment to economic shocks, putting Europe's fiscal house in order and ensuring a successful enlargement of the euro area.

Following a first progress report in 2006 and before making a formal proposal in 2008 the European Commission adopted a second Communication on the progress towards a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB)on 2nd May.The CCCTB would enable companies to follow the same rules for calculating the tax base for all their EU-wide activities, rather than in accordance with the existing 27 systems, thereby, simplifying procedures, improving efficiency and reducing compliance costs.

Rolling out broadband internet connections to bring e-government, e-health, or e-learning on-line services to remote or rural areas like Greek islands or Andalusian mountains is vital to making Europe a world-leading knowledge-based economy. An own-initiative report on broadband policy options, adopted by the Industry Committee on 3rd May, sets out measures to bridge the "digital divide" between urban and rural areas. At the end of 2006 28% of households in the EU had access to broadband internet according to a Eurobarometer survey on "electronic communications in households." In terms of established broadband lines the EU has been ahead of the USA since 2005. In all the results in terms of internet connections is extremely contrasted depending on Member States.

The German presidency of the G8 and many NGO's met on 25th April in Bonn together with the Environment and Development Forum. All believe that it is useful to maintain permanent dialogue between civil society and the G8. Over 200 civil society representatives discussed the German programme at the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm from 6th-8th June next. The German presidency is increasing the meetings that were initiated by the British and Russian presidencies. The Chancellor will also meet NGO representatives mid-May.

During his most recent trip abroad on 3rd May French President Jacques Chirac travelled to Berlin where he was received by Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders recalled the strength behind the Franco-German relationship and pointed to the importance of co-operation between the two countries. They then reviewed a detachment of a Franco-German brigade. Mr Chirac called for the two countries to "have great ambition" in rising to the challenges of the moment notably with regard to the reform of the European institutions. The Chancellor recalled that Mr Chirac was the first foreign leader to have spoken to German MPs in the new Reichstag in June 2000. She declared in French "Long live the Franco-German friendship!" Since his election in 1995 Jacques Chirac has travelled to Germany 32 times.

Recently elected,Nicolas Sarkozy declared on 6th May: "I believe in the construction of Europe and this evening France has made its comeback into Europe," recalling that "all of my life I have been a European." On two previous occasions he has spoken of his European priorities, once in a speech delivered in Brussels on 8th September 2006 to the Robert Schuman Foundation and the Friends of Europe and in another speech given in Strasbourg on 21st February 2007.

According to the latest revisions published by Eurostat on 3rd May, the EU25 external current account recorded a deficit of 4.8 billion euro in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared with a deficit of 24.0 bn in the fourth quarter of 2005 and a deficit of 20.5 bn in the third quarter of 2006. In the fourth quarter of 2006, compared with the fourth quarter of 2005, a lower deficit was recorded in the goods account (-25.2 bn euro compared with -32.1 bn), while the surplus of the services account increased (+19.3 bn compared with +16.0 bn). In the fourth quarter of 2006, the EU25 external current account recorded a surplus with the USA (+25.7 bn euro), Switzerland (+6.9 bn), Canada (+3.3 bn), India (+1.5 bn) and Hong Kong (+1.1 bn), and a deficit with China (-35.2 bn ), Japan (-6.9 bn) and Russia (-4.9 bn).

According to figures released by Eurostat on 2nd May Euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 7.2% in March 2007, compared with 7.3% in February. It was 8.2% in March 2006. The EU27 unemployment rate was 7.3% in March 2007, the same as February. It was 8.2% in March 2006. In March 2007, the lowest rates were registered in Denmark and the Netherlands (both 3.4%) and Ireland (3.9%). Unemployment rates were highest in Poland (11.4%) and Slovakia (10.8%). Twenty three Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and four reported an increase. The largest relative falls were observed in Slovenia (6.4% to 4.6%), Poland (15.0% to 11.4%) and Slovakia (14.2% to 10.8%). The highest relative increases were registered in Romania (6.9% to 7.8%) and Hungary (7.3% to 8.1%).

According to an estimate published by Eurostat on 30th April the annual inflation rate of the euro zone lay at 1.8% in April 2007. In March it lay at 1.9%.

According to estimates published by Eurostat on May 4th in March 2007, compared with March 2006, the volume of retail trade grew by 2.6% in the euro area and by 3.8% in the EU27. Compared with February 2007, the retail sales index rose by 0.5% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the EU27. Among the Member States for which data are available, total retail trade rose in Latvia (+27.7%), Estonia (+24.1%), Lithuania (+15.9%), Bulgaria (+13.5%), Poland (+13.1%), Sweden (+9.5%), Finland (+9.2%), Slovenia (+9.0%), Luxembourg (+8.9%), Slovakia (+6.2%), Spain (+5.5%), the United Kingdom (+5.2%), France (+5.0%), Denmark (+4%), Portugal (+3.4%), Austria (+1.9%) and Belgium (+0.1%), while a fall was recorded in Germany (-0.7%).

According to figures published on 3rd May the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros received 3,830 complaints from EU citizens, companies, NGOs and associations in 2006, ie a rise of 2% in comparison with 2005. 582 inquiries were processed, including 9 inquiries of his own initiative. One quarter of the inquiries carried out in 2006 concerned a lack of transparency in the EU administration, including refusal of information. Among the other types of alleged maladministration were unfairness, payment delays in EU projects, abuse of power, discrimination and unsatisfactory procedures. In 2006, the European Ombudsman dealt with a total of 582 inquiries. Most of the inquiries in 2006 concerned the European Commission (66%), followed by the European Personnel Selection Office, the European Parliament and the Council. Spain produced the greatest number of complaints (20%), followed by Germany (14%), France (9%) and Belgium (6%). But relative to the size of their population, most complaints came from Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus.