Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the main opposition party, the People of Freedom Party (PdL) easily won the early general and senatorial elections that took place in Italy on 13 and 14 April. It won 46.81% of the vote in the general elections (340 seats) and 47.32% in the senatorial election (168 seats). Note that its partner, the Northern League, doubled its score, from 4.6% to 8.3% of the vote in the general elections and from 4.5% to 8.06% at the Senate. Walter Veltroni, leader of the Democratic Party (PD), won 37.54% of the vote in the general elections (239 seats) and 38.01% in the senatorial elections (130 seats). The Union of Christian Democrats (UDC) led by Pier Ferdinando Casini won 5.62% in the general elections (36 seats) and 5.69% in the Senate (3 seats). The Rainbow Left (sinistra arcobaleno), led by Fausto Bertinotti, collapsed, with only 3.08% in the general elections and 3.21% in the Senate. This party will not be represented in Parliament. Turn out was 80.4%.

The spring issue of the "Revue politique et parlementaire" is given over to relations between France and Europe. Jean-Dominique Giuliani, President of the Robert Schuman Foundation, has written one of the articles, "Towards what kind of European Union are we headed?"

The 27 European Ministers for Health, meeting on 18 April, underlined the need to implement structured cooperation between the Council and the European Commission as the key to achieving EU Health Strategy goals. Back in December 2007, the Council of Ministers responsible for health undertook to act in close cooperation with the European Commission in order to implement the EU Health Strategy. The Slovenian presidency presented its proposal for a structure enabling such cooperation, prepared in collaboration with Member States. This was confirmed by Ministers. The final agreement will be approved officially at the Council of Health Ministers meeting in June.

Any renegotiation of the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) already initialled with the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) would be a disaster, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told members of the EP International Trade Committee on 17 April. MEPs asked specifically about progress in the negotiations, the impact of the EPAs on the development and regional integration of the ACP and the role of the European Parliament in the negotiations

On 17 April, the Commission approved 4 measures from the list for the programme "to cut administrative costs" for SMEs. They aim to make life easier for SMEs by cutting the burdens that weigh on them. The first measure abolishes the need to publish business data (relating to the formation of the company, its capital, etc.) in national gazettes, which will reduce costs for enterprises. A reduction in translation obligations is included, when subsidiaries are set up in other Member States. Moreover, a reduction in publicity obligations with regards to accounts for average sized companies will also reduce costs for SMEs. Finally, there will no longer be a need to prepare consolidated accounts for parent companies with subsidiaries whose interest is negligible.

According to a communication adopted on 18 April by the Commission on the introduction of the euro to Cyprus and Malta on 1st January 2008, the vast majority of the population of Cyprus and Malta (95% and 90%) consider that transition to the euro in their country has taken place both smoothly and efficiently. Vigilance by the authorities with regard to price conversions has controlled both prices and the perception of price increases by the population, even within the currrent context of higher inflation due to the increase in price of energy and food products, which is affecting Cyprus and Malta in the same way as in other countries in the euro area and in the rest of the world.

According to a report by the Commission on Progress with Action in the Information Technology and Communications Sector, presented on 18 April, over 250 million Europeans regularly use Internet. This report was drawn up within the context of the i2010 action plan. It shows that 80% of the European population have broadband connection and 60% of public services in the EU are fully available online. Also over 96% of schools in Europe are now connected to Internet and half of all doctors use rapid internet connections. However some areas in the Union are well behind and are not yet fully connected.

On 18 April the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with a view to signing an agreement with the United States regarding certain conditions of access to their Visa Waiver Program or WVP. Several conditions for implementation of the WVP fall within the jurisdiction of the European Community. This decision does not apply to either Ireland or the United Kingdom, since these Member States are not part of the joint policy on visas.

Within the context of a campaign to prepare for the combat against forest fires the European Union organised a major simulation exercise held in Sardinia from 16 to 19 April. As temperatures rise along the southern shores of Europe, the risk of forest fires increases. The European Commission and Member States are working closely together to prepare for the coming forest fire season, building on the lessons learnt from the tragic experiences of 2007. The exercise, SARDINIA 2008, forms part of a larger pilot project co-financed by the European Commission, which aims at developing the notion of a rapid European intervention force for disasters.

The Council is putting on line the consolidated version of treaties on the European Union and on the functioning of the European Union as modified by the Treaty of Lisbon. To date 8 Member States have ratified this treaty, which is due to come into force on 1 January 2009. The Robert Schuman Foundation has an up-dated map detailing the results of ratifications on its Internet site.

On 18 April, the 27 Interior Ministers charged the Commission with negotiating with Washington on conditions to enable all its nationals to enter the United States without a visa. They also decided that in 2010 Europol (European criminal police office) would become a European Union agency financed from the European budget in order to carry out its activities in terms of the combat against terrorism and organised crime. Finally, they adopted the European Union action plan drawn up by a group of experts on the security of explosives (ESETF), referring to the improvement of explosive security. This plan includes specifically the creation of a European system of data on terrorist attacks and an early warning system for explosives.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, went to Ireland on 17 and 18 April. He spoke to the National Forum on Europe in favour of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, three days after the visit by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. In response to fears expressed by the Irish, he stated that this Treaty will maintain the rule of unanimity in terms of taxation and will preserve the military neutrality of Ireland. Much of the debate was devoted to multilateral negotiations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), positions taken by the external trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, being rejected by Irish farmers.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 17 April, production in the construction sector rose by 1.2% in the euro area and by 2.2% in the European Union in February 2008, compared to the previous month. Compared to February 2007, production showed, in February 2008, an increase of 4.3% in the euro area and 5% in the EU. Among Member States construction output rose in ten Member States and remained stable in the Netherlands and Slovakia. The most significant increases were recorded in the United Kingdom (+7.1%), Romania (+5.2%) and Poland (+4.6%). The building sector rose by 0.7% in the euro area and by 1.6% in the European Union; civil engineering increased by 3.2% in the euro area and by 3.9% in the European Union.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 17 April, external trade for the euro area was in surplus in February (0.8 billion €). In January, the trade deficit increased to reach 11 billion €, which was in part due to the massive rise in the price of imported raw materials, particularly oil. For the European Union external trade remained in deficit in February (15.3 billion €). European Union trade with most of its main partners was oriented upwards, with the exception of exports to the United States (-2% in January 2008 compared to January 2007). The largest increases were seen in exports to Russia (+28%) and China (+27%).

The "Internationale Politik" review devotes its latest issue to the new world order in oil. It looks at questions of oil supply, renewable energies, climate change, the governance of world energy, the combat against CO2 emissions and links between Russia and the European Union in terms of energy.

The Danish Institute for International Relations (DIIR) has published two studies by Annika Björkdahl and Maria Strömvik on the ESDP. The first describes the process for setting up a mission, from decision-taking through to action. The second looks at European operations on peace support and concludes that these missions are faced with major challenges in terms of planning, finance and personnel.

Children aged 9-14 can learn to protect their environment by hunting down "eco-criminals" on the "Eco Agents" site created by the European Environment Agency and available in 24 different languages.

The German Institute for International Affairs and Security (SWP) has published a study on "The Implementation of the European Union Energy Plan". Oliver Geden demonstrates that decisions taken at the European Council in March 2007 must be translated into a legal binding form. He underlines the fact that the Union's energy strategy suffers from a lack of ranking of priorities.

According to a study by the Austrian Institute GfK, 88% of Iceland's population uses the internet followed by Finland (81%), Norway (76%), Denmark (76%) and Sweden (73%). Malta comes bottom of the table with 25% of its population using the internet preceded by Spain (35%), Portugal (43%) and Ireland (45%). Austria (67%), Great Britain (63%), Germany (61%), France (56%) and Italy (53%) come at the middle of the table. This study shows that, with the exception of Slovenia (61%) and Estonia (60%), less than one person in two uses the Web in countries from the former Soviet block.