Jean-Dominique Giuliani, Chair of the Robert Schuman Foundation will take part in the 17th Economic Forum in Krynica (Poland) that is to take place between 5th and 8th September next. The forum will rally over 3,000 participants from 60 countries on the theme of : "Europe: Crisis, changes or chance?"

On 16th September Greek voters will be electing the new members of the Vouli (Parliament) after the request made by Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis (New Democracy) of the President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias to dissolve Parliament on 16th August last. By convening these elections early (they should have taken place in March 2008), "the government is inviting the Greeks to make the country's future clear by renewing its confidence in the government and providing it with a strong mandate for the next four years," declared the Greek Prime Minister.

The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani took part in the Bled Strategic Forum on 26th and 27th August. Debate focussed on the main issues at stake in the European Union in 2020: "enlargement and integration". This conference took place with the Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Jansa in attendance along with a great number of other leading Europeans.

One and a half years after the general elections on 26th March 2006 and given the political confusion that resulted the Ukrainians are being called to vote in early elections on 30th September. They will be electing the 450 members of the Verkhovna Rada, the only chamber in Parliament. The election is run according to proportional representation for a four year term in office. The pivotal point of this election is to see who, either President Viktor Yushenko, reputedly pro-European, or Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, who is closer to Russia, will win this election, the referee of which might be played by former Prime Minister Yulia Timochenko. According to the latest polls 34.9% of the voters support the Party of Regions led by Yanukovich, 17.9% Our Ukraine, led by President Yushenko and 17.1% the Yulia Timochenko Bloc.

The next Europinion programme produced by Euronews with the support of the Robert Schuman Foundation will be broadcast on Saturday 8th September at 14:15, 18:15, 23:15; Sunday 9th September at 11:15, 14:15, 17:15, 20:15; Monday 10th September at 09:15,10:15,12:15, 16:15. The guest will be Professor Dominique Reynié who will speak about Europe's young people.

The Robert Schuman Foundation was deeply saddened by the passing of Mr Raymond Barre on 25th August. He was one of the Foundation's most eminent Board members. The Foundation pays tribute to his unfailing commitment in the construction of Europe.

On 30th August the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso spoke at the Summer University of the MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France). In his speech he notably spoke of globalisation and the importance of the Lisbon Strategy. He also announced that the Commission would launch an in-depth assessment of the budget this autumn. This will be followed by a public debate and real proposals in 2008-2009. After commending Nicolas Sarkozy's commitment to Europe he recalled that the latter could only have influence in the world if it were united. He called for "joint action, team spirit and fair play along with the respect of each other's differences."

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso travelled to Greece on 1st September as a sign of solidarity on the part of the European Union in helping this country to overcome the consequences of the disastrous fires that have occured recently. "European solidarity will not cease on the extinction of the fires. This catastrophe is a European one," he said. "The Commission is looking into all the possible means and support in aid of the Greeks who have to face the results of these fires," he added. Danuta Hübner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy travelled on 31st August to Greece to make a first assessment of the damage. "The EU could very well release up to 600 million euros this year to help Greece face the consequences of the deadly fires that have ravaged the country," she indicated.

During a speech at the Ambassadors Conference on 27th August French President Nicolas Sarkozy focussed chiefly on Europe. "France cannot be strong without Europe, as Europe cannot be strong without France." He said that "the construction of Europe will remain an absolute priority of our foreign policy." Amongst the European subjects that he promoted featured immigration, energy, environment and defence. In addition to this he stressed the importance of three world challenges: the confrontation between Islam and the West, the rise of giants in the new world order (China, India, Brazil) and the major dangers of the 21st century (global warming, new pandemics and energy supplies; these challenges could not be met if co-operation between European States was not strong.

In an article in the review "Défense Nationale" (August-September 2007) Alain Lamassoure MEP describes how the simplified treaty was prepared and negotiated. He explains the progress that the treaty might allow to take the European Union forwards.

On 31st August French Defence Minister Hervé Morin travelled to Kosovo to help in the transfer of the command of KFOR by French General Xavier Bout de Marnhac who officially takes over from German General Major Roland Kather. 1,850 French soldiers are part of KFOR which comprises 15,800 military in all from 35 countries. The French military are mostly deployed in the North of the province. This visit also coincided with the announcement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 27th August that France along with the EU would support "the principle of independence (of Kosovo) supervised by the international community."

UN representative in Kosovo Joachim Rucker announced on 31st August that he had convened general and local elections in the area for 17th November.

Former Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek, who was dismissed at the beginning of August 2007 was arrested on 31st August for impeding the course of justice. During a hearing before a parliamentary commission responsible for assessing the activities of the secret services,last week he accused Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and the Justice Minister of having tapped the telephones former Prime Ministers.

The Commission has undertaken a survey amongst European children which focusses on the way they use new media. The survey results published on 10th August show that for the young generation of Europeans the use of the internet and mobile phones is quite normal. Generally children are also aware of the dangers linked to the use of the internet and mobile phones. However when they have problems on-line they only turn to their parents as a last resort.

A survey conducted for the European Commission by Eurobarometer that was published on 31st August confirms that a significant majority of people in EU Member States support efforts to intensify co-operation with the countries neighbouring the Union. The overwhelming majority of those polled believe that working with neighbours on fighting organised crime and terrorism (89%), on environment and energy(86%), on economic development (85%), immigration (71%), democracy (82%), education and training (81%) is important. Most Europeans believe that EU assistance to its neighbours can serve to extend peace (67%)and democracy (73%) beyond the borders of the Union, and around half believe that neighbouring countries are indeed willing to co-operate with the EU to introduce internal reforms.

According to the first estimate published on 21st August by Eurostat for the euro area trade balance with the rest of the world in June 2007 gave a 7.8 bn euro surplus, compared with +1.6 bn in June 2006. The May 2007 balance was +1.7 bn, compared with -4.0 bn in May 2006. The first estimate for June 2007 extra-EU27 trade was a deficit of 9.4 bn euro, compared with -13.3 bn in June 2006. In June 2007 compared with May 2007, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 1.7% and imports by 0.7%.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 16th August Euro area annual inflation was 1.8% in July 2007, down from 1.9% in June. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was -0.2% in July 2007. EU annual inflation was 2.0% in July 2007, down from 2.1% in June. A year earlier the rate was 2.4%. Monthly inflation was -0.3% in July 2007. In July 2007, the lowest annual rates were observed in Malta (-0.2%), Denmark (1.1%), France and Slovakia (1.2% each), and the highest rates in Latvia (9.5%), Hungary (8.3%) and Bulgaria (6.8%). Compared with June 2007, annual inflation rose in twelve Member States, remained stable in two and fell in thirteen.

According to estimates published by Eurostat on 14th August GDP grew by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU27 during the second quarter of 2007, compared with the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.7% in both the euro area and the EU27. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP grew by 2.5% in the euro area and by 2.8% in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2007. During the second quarter of 2007, US GDP increased by 0.8% and in Japan, it grew by 0.1%.

According to Eurostat figures published on 31st August Euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment stood at 6.9% in July 2007, unchanged compared to June. It was 7.8% in July 2006. The EU27 unemployment rate was 6.8% in July 2007, compared with 6.9% in June. It was 7.9% in July 2006. In July 2007, the lowest rates were registered in Denmark (3.2%), the Netherlands (3.4%) Cyprus (4.1%) and Austria (4.3%). Unemployment rates were highest in Slovakia (10.6%) and Poland (9.7%). Twenty-three Member States recorded a fall in their unemployment rate over a year and four an increase.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 28th August seasonally adjusted industrial production decreased by 0.1% in the euro area in June 2007 compared with May 2007. Production grew by 1.0% in May and fell by 0.9% in April. In the EU27 output remained unchanged in June, after an increase of 0.7% in May and a decrease of 0.5% in April. In June 2007 compared with June 2006, industrial production rose by 2.3% in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU27.