The spring issue of the review Europe's World has been published. This issue is available in French thanks to the Robert Schuman Foundation and the support provided by the French European Affairs Ministry. Within its pages you can read many interesting articles on the future of the European Union including those written by the governor of the Bank of France, Christian Noyer.

The European Council will meet on 13th and 14th March next. The 27 European leaders have to discuss the Union's guidelines for 2008-2010. The stabilisation of the financial markets, climate change, energy as well as the Lisbon Strategy will be on the agenda. With regard to this the Robert Schuman Foundation has published a "Note" entitled "The Lisbon Strategy: a European Way towards Globalisation."

Just as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have come to a compromise on the Mediterranean Union, the Robert Schuman Foundation invites you to consult the article written by Michel Foucher on "France, the European Union and the issues at stake in the Mediterranean" in the "Schuman Report 2008 on the State of the Union" published by Lignes de Repères. This work comprises 18 articles including that by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker. It rounds up the issues at stake in Europe by means of maps and unique statistical data. It is a work of reference for all of those who want to know everything about the European Union.

484, 000 Montenegrin voters are being called to ballot on 6th April to appoint their President. This presidential election will be the first since independence on 21st May 2006. If no candidate wins the absolute majority in the first round a second round will be organised on 20th April. The head of State is elected for a five year term in office. The old obligatory turn out rate of a minimum 50% of the population necessary for the presidential election to be declared valid was abolished in 2003, after the invalidation of two elections in nearly five months because of inadequate turn out. The President has a purely honorary role. 5 people are running on 6th April: Filip Vujanovic (DPS), outgoing President; Nebojsa Medojevic(PZP);Andrija Mandic (SNS); Srdjan Milic (SNP);Blagota Mitric, professor at the faculty of law at the university of Podgorica. The present term in office of outgoing President Filip Vujanovic comes to an end on 22nd May next.

For the last few years the Foundation has updated a comparative table on the number of women present within each of the governments and each of the chambers (lower chambers if the Parliament is bicameral) of the 27 Member States of the European Union. These tables are updated according to each general election and each ministerial re-shuffle. Although the Scandinavian countries have always held a good lead in terms of female representation (Finland and Sweden hold the first two place both in terms of government and parliament, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands in terms of parliaments), two countries which are not so used to taking the lead, France and Spain, are now lying third and fourth in terms of government thanks to the initiatives taken by their leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy and José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who decided to appoint governments with equal numbers of men and women.

On 12th March Parliament will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first session of the European Assembly (19th-21st March 1958) created by the Rome Treaties. A ceremony will take place in Strasbourg with the President of Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša, whose country is ensuring the presidency of the Council and European Commission President, José Manuel Barrosos in attendance. Robert Schuman was the first president of the Parliamentary Assembly from 1958 to 1960.

A Commission report published on 6th March shows that despite recent progress, women in Europe are still shut out of top posts in both politics and business. Across the EU, 24% of parliamentarians are women – up from 16% a decade ago – with a similar proportion holding ministerial office. The central banks of all 27 EU Member States are led by a male governor. The under-representation of women at the top level is heightened in big business where men account for nearly 90% of the board members in leading companies, a figure which has barely improved in recent years. External to the Union Norway stands out since it has made it compulsory under the threat of prosecution to have parity within administrative boards (40% of women minimum). Women's participation in the latter has risen by 34% in recent time.

The Commission launched the preparatory phase of the ELI project - Extreme Light Infrastructure for the construction of an extremely powerful laser by 2013-2015. This project, funded by the Commission to a total of 6 million euros will be co-ordinated by the CNRS, the Ecole Polytechnique, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (ENTSA) and the Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée (LAO). Between 2008-2011 300 researchers working in 50 laboratories in 13 European countries will strive towards the technical production of "extreme light" that will be possible by 2013/15 with the construction of a laser that will provide an impulse of around 200 petawatts - 1 petawatt equals 1 billion megawatts - "that will open the way to a totally new type of physics."

The European Union officially requested the launch of talks within the WTO with regard to Chinese measures that are damaging the activities of foreign financial information suppliers in China. China in fact is preventing foreign financial information suppliers from offering their services directly to their clients. They now have to use an agent a branch of the the Xinhua (national press agency of the Popular Republic of China). The Chinese measures in question are contrary to the obligations China commmitted to when it joined the WTO in 2001 and they are a serious impediment to the work of European financial information suppliers.

The director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Morten Kjaerum was appointed head of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights. Mr Kjaerum, 50, a trained lawyer will take office this summer. "This will be an extremely exciting task - building a new agency designed to monitor the application of the Human Rights Charter of the European Union," he declared. The agency that was created in 2007 is complementary to the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. It mainly takes care of community law and its application on the basis of the Fundamental Rights Charter established by the European Union.

On 4th March the European Commission adopted a 160 million euro food aid decision targeting an estimated 18.7 million people living in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and North Africa. This funding decision, the largest ever launched by the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department, aims to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people facing food shortages due to natural catastrophes, economic and political crises, and armed conflicts. It is the first food aid decision for 2008.

On 5th March the European Commission adopted a Communication on reinforcing the Union's Disaster Response capacity. In order to rise to the growing challenges posed by natural and man-made disasters, the communication proposes that the European Union strengthens its abilities at home and abroad to provide civil protection and humanitarian assistance. The Commission has undertaken a screening exercise of all its existing resources and puts forward as a first step an action plan of specific measures to be implemented before the end of 2008. As a concrete example, the communication includes a specific focus on how to improve the Union's response to forest fires.

On 4th March the 27 Economy and Finance Ministers approved a report on issues with regard to financial stability in the wake of the disruption on the world finance markets - they also approved an updated version of the major guidelines for the EU's economic policies and recommendations country by country on economic and employment policies. They discussed the issue of sovereign funds in view of the European Council on 13th and 14th March. As a result of the revelations made about accounts held by some European citizens in Liechtenstein they addressed the issue of tax evasion and bank secrecy. Luxembourg and Austria said they wished to retain their bank secrecy rejecting the rewriting of the "taxation of savings" directive, adopted in 2003; this had been requested by a majority of Member States in the fight against tax evasion. The two countries have said that any hardening in the legislation had to go hand in hand with an equivalent agreement with tax havens, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

EU High Representative for the Common and Foreign Security Policy, Javier Solana has just published an article in the March/April issue of the review 'Diplomatie' entitled 'European Diplomacy in the Mediterranean.' He explains that the EU cannot just be satisfied with having the Mediterranean as just a neighbour, since seven Member States lie on its shores. Since this region will have to face joint challenges it is vital to strengthen co-operation between the European Union and its Mediterranean neighbours.

During a meeting in Hannover on 3rd March during the inauguration of the IT Exhibition (CEBIT) French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that they had come to an compromise on the project for the Mediterranean Union. This will now be open to all the European Union countries and not just to countries bordering the Mediterranean. A Franco-German proposal is to be put forward at the European Council on 13th and 14th March in Brussels.

On 5th March Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende made an official visit to France where he met French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They notably spoke of the European environment and immigration policies. After lunch at the Elysée they said: "France and the Netherlands are convinced that the fight against climate change and the need for the security of energy supplies demand firm action on the part of the European Union." In addition to this the Dutch Prime Minister was favourable to the idea of a European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, one of the priorities of the French presidency of the European Union.

On 8th March French President Nicolas Sarkozy commended equal wages between men and women and promised financial sanctoins against those who did not comply. Social partners have until 2009 to find a solution in order to put an end to salary inequalities between the sexes. "I said 2009 so that everyone has the time to make things equal (...) as from 2009 I shall have Parliament vote on financial sanctions. I want financial sanctions that can be applied because there is no reason why women should be paid less than men," maintained the Head of State.

On 7th March Danuta Hübner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy revealed the results of a Eurobarometer survey which focussed on the way Europeans view this policy. It emerges that citizens are mostly convinced of the advantages of this policy for their town or region - it represents more than one third of the European budget.They hope that it will be more ambitious by addressing new challenges such as climate change, globalisation and demographic developments.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 4th March in January 2008 compared with December 2007, the industrial producer price index rose by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the European Union. In December prices increased by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively. In January 2008 compared with January 2007, industrial producer prices gained 4.9% in the euro area and 5.8% in the European Union. Among Member States for which data are available, the highest increases were registered in Hungary (+5.1%), Finland (+2.4%) and Lithuania (+2.3%), and the lowest in Ireland (+0.3%), Italy (+0.4%), France and Luxembourg (both +0.5%).

According to figures published by Eurostat on 4th March Euro area GDP grew by 0.4% and European Union GDP by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.7% in the euro area and +0.8% in the European Union. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2006, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 2.2% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the European Union, after +2.6% and +2.9% respectively for the previous quarter.

As the French presidency of the European Union approaches Joachim Fritz-Vannahme, researcher at the Bertelsmann Foundation studies the European policy adopted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He believes that his declarations and projects are not always understood by his European partners (euro, Mediterranean Union) and that he ought to bend to the rule of the compromise that prevails in the EU to push his ideas forwards. He says that the European capitals are concerned about the future French Presidency of the EU which will start on 1st July next.

The review "Münchner Beiträge zur europäischen Einigung" (Contributions from Munich towards the Unification of Europe) has dedicated its latest issue to the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Simone Weske asks whether Germany and France might not instrumental in this. She takes a critical look at Franco-German co-operation and on the basis of a practical, theoretical analysis she draws up a potential plan of developments in Franco-German relations.

The Center for European Reform has published a study entitled "The Lisbon Scoreboard VIII. Is Europe ready for an economic storm?" Katinka Barysch, Simon Tilford and Philip Whyte review the results of the 27 Member States in terms of the respect of the Lisbon Strategy objectives(innovation, return to employment, reduction of CO2). As the world economic situation worsens they question the European Union's ability to face this change about in the economy and on its competitiveness vis-à-vis emerging economic powers.

From 14th March to 2nd June the Louvre Museum is holding an exhibition on Babylon. For the first time assembling works from all over the world, this exhibition seeks to reconcile Babylon's history with its legend. The major periods of Babylonian civilisation are set out using pillars, statues, precious objects, documents, cuneiform slabs, papyrus and manuscripts.