35.3 million Spaniards are being called to ballot on 9th March next to renew the Parliament (Cortes Generales) ie 350 MPs and 208 Senators. The race promises to be tightly run between the two main parties – the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) led by José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the Popular Party (PP) led by Mariano Rajoy – who will be debating for the last time on 4th March. The fight against the Basque terrorist organisation ETA, the economic situation and immigration are the focus of the campaign. The most recent polls forecast victory for the PSOE. A poll for the daily El Pais published on 2nd March forecast 42.9% for the PSOE and 38.8% for the PP. A second poll by Publiscopio for the daily Publico credits the PSOE with 44% versus 40% for the PP. Finally a third poll by Opina for radio Cadena Ser shows that the PSOE would win 44.5% versus 41.5% for the PP. Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's popularity rating is still higher than that of Mariano Rajoy. There has not been one poll since the start of the electoral campaign that has declared the PP in the lead with regard to voting intentions.

The Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a working session on theme of "Is Europe supporting its companies to export?" on 4th March from 10:30am to 1pm in Brussels. This seminar will take place with Ignasi Guardans, MEP and David O'Sullivan, Director General for External Trade at the European Commission, with the participation of a number of company heads.

On 4th February last the Maltese President Eddie Fenech Adami announced the dissolution of Parliament and the organisation of general elections on 8th March. Parliament is unicameral: the House of Representatives comprises 65 MPs elected within 13 constituencies for five years maximum. Since independence on 21st September 1964 only two political parties have been represented in Parliament: the Nationalist Party (PN), a Christian-Democratic movement led by present Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, and the Labour Party (MLP), a social-democratic movement led by Alfred Sant. Whilst the Labour Party has dominated its nationalist adversary by 3 to 6 points in the polls for the last few months the gap has now decreased and there is now only a 2 point difference between them. There are many Maltese however who believe rather in the victory of the Labour Party than the nationalists: 48.72%, versus 34.62% according to a poll undertaken by M&E Management.

The Saint-Louis Cultural Centre of France in Rome is organising a conference on the theme of "Europe face à de nouveaux défis" on 10th March at 6pm. Jean-Dominique Giuliani, chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation will take part in the conference. His speech will focus on the new challenges (economic, political, social and cultural) which Europe has been facing since the signature of the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Ideas Network (EIN) in partnership with the Foundation for Political Innovation and the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a working seminar on 5th March from 3pm-7pm on "Facing the 2025 Challenge: EU Options and Solutions". Jean-Dominique Giuliani, chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation will introduce the debates with James Elles, MEP, chairman of the EIN.

During the 11th Forum of National Ethics Councils on 28th and 29th February participants spoke of the conflict of individuals' rights and freedom and the interests of society. They debated palliative care and responsibility in the area of biological and medical research, two priority ethical issues in Europe. The cloning of animals for food production gave rise to an in depth discussion. Ethic specialists advised against using such practices for the time being explaining that they were not really necessary and that their unnatural nature made them unacceptable to many people. The debate also focussed on ethical aid for patients suffering from incurable diseases.

More than one thousand Belarusians demonstrated on 27th February in support of opposition leader Aleksander Kazuline during the funeral of his wife for which, under Western pressure, he was temporarily released from prison. Mr Kazuline was released for three days from prison in extremis where he has been serving a five and half year sentence since 2006 for having demonstrated against dictator Aleksander Lukashenko. Many Western diplomats attended the funeral. The Europan Union again launched an appeal to the Belarusian authorities to free Aleksander Kazuline permanently and unconditionally. The final liberation of all political prisoners would comprise a real measure in the eyes of the EU indicating that Belarus is moving along the road to the respect of fundamental European values which are democracy, Human Rights and the State of Law.

During a public session on 27th February participants debated the means to encourage competition and investment in the sector of telecommunications. Organised by the industry committee, this session aimed to look into the Commission's proposal for a directive and the creation of a European Authority for the Electronic Communications Market.

The separation of the supply of energy and its distribution was at the heart of debate within the Industry Committee which looked into several reports on 28th February. One of the reports refers to the internal electricity market, the other to access conditions to the distribution of gas. The dissociation ie separation of supply operations and the distribution of energy has its supporters who believe that this is the only means to guarantee loyal competition and to avoid conflicts in interest and its opponents who are recommending other solutions. The vote on this will not happen before May.

As from April, 16 radio stations that have joined in a consortium and 7 associate radio stations will co-produce and broadcast on a daily basis programmes dedicated to European news. The programmes will be broadcast in ten languages at first (German, English, Bulgarian, French, Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Romanian), then gradually in the 23 languages of the European Union. These programmes are due to reach out to an estimated public of 19 million in the EU and 30 million across the world.

On 28th February the European Commission imposed a penalty payment of 899 million euros on Microsoft providing easier access to its software. This penalty comes in addition to the 497 million euro fine given in March 2004 when the Commission condemned Microsoft for the first time for the abuse of its dominant position. "Microsoft was the first company in fifty years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision", said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The Commission had asked the group to increase the interoperability of their software ie that they communicate the necessary technical information to their competitors for their products to be compatible and inter-react with the others.

On 27th February the European Commission adopted a plan which aims to address the challenges facing forest-based industries, which are adapting to deal with increased global competition, climate change and energy and wood supply availability. Important competitiveness challenges cover innovation, access to non-EU markets and high energy and transport costs. Furthermore, and in particular in the woodworking and printing sectors, the dimension of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) is especially relevant. The communication is part of the Commission's integrated industrial policy consisting of horizontal and sectoral measures.

On 27th February the European Commission proposed a new Safer Internet programme to enhance the safety of children in the online environment. Encompassing recent communications services from the Web 2.0, such as social networking, the new programme will fight not only illegal content but also harmful behaviour such as bullying and grooming. With a budget of 55 million euros, the programme, which builds further on the successful Safer Internet programme started in 2005, will run from 2009 to 2013. It will focus on four points: to reduce illegal content and tackle harmful conduct online; to promote a safer online environment; to ensure public awareness;to establish a knowledge base by bringing researchers together who are active in the area of children's safety on line across Europe.

On 27th February the European Commissionadopted two communications on sovereign wealth funds and on adapting European and global financial systems to better promote financial stability. On sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), the Commission is proposing that EU leaders endorse a common EU approach to increasing the transparency, predictability and accountability of SWFs. On financial stability, the Commission wants the European Council to confirm the principles which will guide the EU's efforts to improve financial market transparency and reinforce prudential control and risk management.

In a report published on 26th February the European Commission indicates that the community rules governing charges associated with cross-border payments in euros have to be modified so that consumer protection is improved and to include automatic debit operations. Cross-border payments are indeed more expensive than the domestic equivalent. Banks have organised payment systems nationally. To remedy this situation the EU has established rules to guarantee that consumers will pay the same charges as if they were making a domestic payment when paying for something in euros into the account in another Member State. Consumers simply have to provide the international bank account number (IBAN) and the identification code of the bank (BIC) of the person receiving payment.

In replacement of Markos Kyprianou, appointed Foreign Minister of Cyprus, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, put forward the candidature of Androula Vassiliou to the Council and Parliament. The Council accepted this choice on March 1st. Androula Vassiliou will be responsible for health issues. The European Commission now has 9 women out of 27 commissioners, ie 33.33%.

In order to increase the safety of toys objects containing magnets look set to carry a mandatory warning label across the EU, under a Commission proposal approved by Member States in the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) Committee. The proposal for a draft Commission decision will cover all "magnetic toys" - toys that contain or consist of loose or detachable magnets, or magnetic components of such size and shape that they can be swallowed by children. The warning label will be carried on the packaging or be otherwise attached to the toy. Magnets are an emerging risk, in the course of the last few years they have become smaller, more powerful and more easily detachable. There have been, over the past two years, a number of accidents worldwide with children swallowing magnets detached from toys.

The 27 Justice and Home Ministers met on 28th February and agreed that Europol would become a European agency. They agreed to the lifting of immunity for Europol officials when participating in operational activities, especially Joint Investigation Teams (JITs), and the principle of staff rotation and the possibility for Europol staff participating in a JIT to receive instructions from the team leader. In addition to this they agreed on a timetalbe to establish a second SIS II system (Schengen Information System). After the enlargement of the Schengen area the development of new mechanisms has become necessary to ensure greater stability of the system and to guarantee the safety of the data it holds.

The 27 Energy Ministers approved the European strategic plan for energy technologies on 28th February; this plan aims to increase investments in training, research and innovation and to obtain the total participation of the private sector to establish a new balance between the EU's energy requirements and planetary ecological issues. In addition to this they discussed a proposed directive for the promotion of renewable energies and the European plan to fight against climate change. However they did not agree on the issue of separating the production and distribution of energy - an issue which is dividing Member States.

On 29th February the 27 Employment Ministers met to debate the annual report on the employment situation in the European Union. According to this report the employment situation has improved in all Member States over the last two years. 6.5 million jobs were created over this period and five million addtional jobs are expected to be created by 2009.

According to figures from the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations(Ost-Ausschuss der deutschen Wirtschaft) published on 26th February, Central and Eastern Europe is increasingly a major trading partner for German companies. Germany's trade with these countries hit a new record in 2007 generating nearly 280 billion euros in turnover, versus 245 billion in 2006 ie 16% of the total volume of German trade (in comparison with 6.8% with the USA and 5.8% with China). In five years the turnover linked to countries in Central and Eastern Europe has increased in Germany by 130 billion euros ie a growth rate of 82.2%. Ousting Russia in 2007 Poland asserted itself as Germany's leading commercial partner in the east.

In a speech delivered on 27th February at the inauguration of the conference "The image of Islam in Germany: new stereotypes, old images of the enemy?", German Home Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble called on the German media to convey a more subtle image of islam, which is less focussed on violent events and trivia. This trend might be the root of the growing gulf within society that is damaging to the integration of Muslims. In his opinion surveys show that mistrust about Islam is filtering into society and simultaneously people from Muslim countries feel increasingly excluded and rejected.

Whilst on 27th February the 27 Member States of the European Union did not come to a compromise on energy German energy leader, E.On, has just suggested it separates from its electricity network. The other three major competitors RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall are also said to be holding discussions. These decisions follow the direction of the Commission communication published in January which aims to separate the production and the distribution of electricity. However opposition is being put forward by eight countries including France and Germany who are proposing that the major energy companies continue to hold the transport networks managed by operators who are independent of the parent company. This proposal was not accepted by the EU.

The European Affairs Committee of the Irish Parliament is planning to organise several meetings across the country in order to stimulate debate on the Lisbon Treaty and to assess Irish opinion on this text. The first debate is due to take place on 7th April in Dublin then on 17th in Galway. The meetings should then continue in Cork, Dundalk and Athlone before ending in Limerick. This programme takes on board the referendum for the ratification of the treaty that is due to take place at the end of May/beginning of June.

The number of people who say they are prepared to vote "yes" to the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that will be held shortly in Ireland, the only country to hold such an election due to its Constitution, has almost doubled. 46% of those interviewed say they are ready to vote "yes" to the treaty, in comparison with 23% who favour the "no". Amongst the thousand interviewed 31% did not answer, according to the poll undertaken by Red C between 25th and 27th February, published on 2nd March in the Sunday Business Post.

According to British Home Minister nearly 800,000 people from eight countries of Europe who joined the EU in May 2004 have asked for a work permit in the UK since that date. At the end of 2007 the British authorities had received 796,000 requests for work permits 766,000 of which were granted; applicants came from Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. In 2007 alone 214,510 work permits were requested in comparison with 234,725 the previous year. But between October and December 2007 requests declined (50,000) in comparison with the same period in 2006 (65,000). This data does not inlcude independent workers, or citizens from Romania and Bulgaria which joined the EU on 1st January 2007.

According to Eurostat figures published on 29th February Euro area annual inflation was 3.2% in January 2008, up from 3.1% in December 2007. A year earlier the rate was 1.8%. Monthly inflation was -0.4% in January 2008. European Union annual inflation was 3.4% in January 2008, up from 3.2% in December 2007. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was -0.2% in January 2008. In January 2008, the lowest annual rates were observed in the Netherlands (1.8%), the United Kingdom (2.2%), Germany and Portugal (both 2.9%), and the highest in Latvia (15.6%), Bulgaria (11.7%) and Estonia (11.3%).

The European Policy Centre has launched an on-line forum to bring young people closer to European institutions. On this forum young people can chat and discuss their expectations and political concerns. The aim is to create emulation and renew ideas so that the European Union can draw closer to the concerns of its young citizens who are not yet 40.

A survey by Euractiv reveals that the national angle and new media tools are vital to the EU's communication. Indeed the study shows the increasing importance of the use of tools such as blogs. Multilinguism also comprises a vital tool.

The Center Center for European Reform has published a document entitled, "EU migration policy: An A-Z". Author Hugo Brady explains the increasing role played by the European Union in terms of migration.

The March issue of "The World Today" published by Chatham House looks notably into the effect of airlines on climate change and the European system of emissions quota exchange.

According to a report by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) the European Commission chaired by José Manuel Barroso hesitates more than the previous commissions in putting forward legislative proposals that are potentially a source of polemic. Although the present Commission, that entered office at the end of 2004 submits nearly as many legislative proposals as the previous commission led by Romano Prodi it seems "more reticent in making proposals on sensitive issues." It is "mostly perceived as being especially cautious with regard to Member States' national interests."

The Palazzo Grassi in Venice is holding an exhibition until 20th July on the theme of "Rome and the Barbarians". The exhibition shows how the Roman territory was shaken by Barbarian tribes arriving from distant lands at the start of our era. With nearly 2000 pieces of work from all over Europe, the East and even the USA (more than 200 donors, from Tunis to Washington, from Saint-Petersburg to Lisbon), the exhibition covers more than one thousand years of conflict, interaction and co-existance between two worlds. By revealing the dialogue between the various cultures of Europe, the theme of "Rome and the Barbarians" finds itself at the heart of present issues.