The 3rd Meeting of the "Club rhénan", a Franco-German forum on the future of Europe created by Joachim Bitterlich and Jean-Dominique Giuliani will take place on 14th May in Paris. The main themes will be: the European Union's energy policy and the European Security and Defence Policy. This meeting has the support of the Robert Schuman Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

From 5th to 9th May the Robert Schuman Foundation welcomed the head of the democratic opposition forces of Belarus, Aleksander Milinkievich. Together with Jean-Dominique Giuliani, chairman of the Foundation and Alain Barrau, chairman of the French Information Bureau at the European Parliament he held a conference on 6th May on the situation in Belarus. On 8th May Aleksander Milinkievich was interviewed on Euronews. On 9th May he met French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In view of the French Presidency of the European Union that will start on 1st July 2008 the Robert Schuman Foundation and the association "Femmes, Débat et Société" with the support of the European Commission have released a flyer on 7th May entitled "Europe concerns us all!" as part of the communication project "Women for Europe". This document above all designed for women presents the advantages provided by the construction of Europe to our daily lives; it presents the European institutions, your rights, Europe's main policies and Europe in the world.

The European Union Ministerial troïka meeting took place on 6th May with Turkey; the meeting was chaired by Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenian Foreign Minister. The meeting focussed on the evaluation of progress achieved by Turkey in the negotiation procedure with the European Union and the implementation of the Accession Partnership priorities. The Slovenian Presidency said that it would work towards opening up two new negotiation chapters with Turkey during the conference planned for June.

The Presidency of the Council, the European Commission and Lithuania came to an agreement on 11th May during the European Union-Russia troika with regard to the launch of negotiations on a new partnership and co-operation agreement with Russia. The agreement that has just been settled will be approved during the next session of the General Affairs Council on 26th May. The draft negotiation mandate with Russia includes three points that Lithuania believes to be vital : "the attitude towards "latent conflicts" particularly in Abkhazia and Transnistria, legal and police co-operation with Russia and issues of energy security. "This text takes into account the vital interests of Lithuania as well as those of the European Union," declared Dimitrij Rupel, head of Slovenian diplomacy, who called on Lithuania to act in solidarity with other Member States.

The EU Presidency was delighted with the clear victory for the pro-European forces in the general elections that took place in Serbia on 11th May. It was glad that the occasion was peaceful, that there was no conflict and that the elections were free and democratic. It hopes that a new government will be formed rapidly with a clear European programme.

The report by Manolis Mavrommatis (EPP-ED,EL) was adopted 518 votes in favour, 49 against and 9 abstentions. MEPs approved the establishment of clear guidelines with regard to the application of community law in terms of sport. One of their main concerns was to protect sport and sportsmen and women from racism and discrimination linked to nationality. They invited professional clubs and sports organisations to step up their fight against doping and call for a partnership between laboratories and the services in charge of implementing the law so that knowledge of illicit doping products can be improved. Finally other themes were addressed such as the danger of deregulating the gambling market, the need for greater solidarity in terms of access to the media and the need to respect legislation in the area of immigration.

On 8th May MEPs approved Marco Cappato's (ALDE, IT) report, 533 votes in favour, 63 against and 41 abstentions on the Human Rights situation in the world. In this report MEPs examine some countries and condemn Human Rights' infringements observed in China, Iran and Russia. They invite the Commission, the Council and the Member States to come together in concerted actions in this area. With regard to the international community they welcome the new UN Human Rights Council believed to be a useful tool for the Union's multilateral initiatives. They are pleased with the adoption of a UN resolution on 18th December 2007 that requested a world moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Finally they recalled that it is a priority to take women's and children's rights into account.

In a report by Véronique de Keyser (PES, BE) and José Salafranca (EPP-ED, ES) adopted on 8th May by 605 votes in favour, 11 against and 16 abstentions, MEPs stressed the importance of European Union electoral observation missions in terms of its visibility in the international arena. Thanks to its missions the Union plays a role in the pre and post-electoral phases, notably by supporting the enhancement of national parliaments' capabilities. However improved efficacy and co-ordination of election observation missions seems primordial. They have requested an annual report from European Parliament on these missions.

On the occasion of the euro's tenth anniversary the European Commission lauded the success achieved by the single currency but deplores that fact that the euro area is unable to speak with one voice in the international arena. At the same time the Commission adopted the Convergence Report on euro readiness which shows that the other nine countries with a so-called 'derogation' have made progress on the road to the single currency, but do not yet meet all the conditions for euro adoption (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden). It concluded that Slovakia meets the criteria for adopting euro and made a proposal to the Council to this effect. The Council of EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) will take the final decision on the adoption of the euro in Slovakia in July.

On 7th May the European Commission invites feedback by industry, consumers and other interested stakeholders to review the functioning and effectiveness of the EU Roaming Regulation, which entered into force on 30th June 2007. According to the provisions of the Regulation, the Commission must report to the European Parliament and the Council in 2008 about the functioning of the new roaming rules and their effects. The public consultation aims to gather responses from mobile operators, businesses, consumer associations and any interested party by 2nd July 2008. The Commission will then be able to evaluate whether it should limit tariffs applied to SMS and mobile internet abroad. The consultation will enable a review of the eurotariff (which obliges European mobile telephone oeprators to apply a maximum tariff of 0.49 cts VAT excluded with regard to calls made from abroad and 0.24 cts on calls received). The Commission also wants to see whether it is necessary to extend this regulation or not beyond 30th June 2010.

On 8th May the European Commission launched the fourth phase of the Tempus programme designed to support the modernisation of teaching in higher education in the 28 partner countries of the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Northern Africa and the Middle East. A conference organised in Cairo on 7th and 8th May focussed on the issue of quality and the role played by the Tempus programme since it was launched in 1990. It was also the occasion for dialogue between universities, experts and students from the 27 Member States of the EU and the 28 partners of the Tempus programme.

Antonio Tajani was appointed by the Italian government led by Silvio Berlusconi to succeed Franco Frattini at the European Commission. The latter resigned from his position to become Italian Foreign Affairs Minister. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso confirmed the appointment on 8th May of Antonio Tajani and gave him the Transport portfolio whilst Vice-President Jacques Barrot will take over that of Justice, Liberty and Security. In order to be appointed Antonio Tajani, MEP until now, is to be auditioned by his former colleagues.

On 8th May EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva published the mid term report on an EU wide enforcement investigation - involving 15 EU national authorities as well as Norway – against misleading advertising and unfair practices on airline ticket selling websites. The report shows that there are "serious and persistent consumer problems" throughout the airline industry as a whole. 1 in 3 websites surveyed (137 out of 386 originally checked by the 13 reporting countries) have had to be followed up with enforcement action over the last 7 months for breaches of EU consumer law. Over 50% of those websites have been corrected during this time. The overall trends of problems within the sector are as follows: misleading pricing has emerged as the biggest problem, found in 58% of the sites under investigation; Problems with non-availability of advertised offers appeared in 15% of the sites. The problems persist amongst a wide range of companies. The 137 websites under investigation represent about 80 companies – including large brand names and lesser known companies.

In an interview given on 7th May the German Home Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble spoke of Germany's security strategy after the initiative put forward by the CDU-CSU group in the Bundestag. From now on international terrorism, cyber wars, criminal States, asymetrical wars and migratory flow, not forgetting energy and environmental issues, are the main threats. Germany has to rise to these challenges and implement a strategy whilst co-operating with its European partners.

On 9th May during the debate on the Immigration Report 2006 German Home Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble spoke to the Bundestag. After having briefly mentioned some migration analysis results he turned to the issue of integration which is one of the government's priorities and which remains a problem. He notably stressed the responsibility of the media and rejected the idea of parallel societies in Germany. He believes that integration is achieved by a reciprocal process and that it should lead to the examination of the issue of citizenship. He called for the creation of a joint European policy dedicated to the fight against illegal immigration.

The referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will take place on 12th June in Ireland, the only country in the European Union to be organising a consultation on the subject. The Irish Minister for the Environment and Local Authorities Brian Gormley signed the decision which made the date official on 12th May.

On 7th May the new president of the Italian Council, Mr Silvio Berlusconi formed a government comprising 21 members (including four women). Amongst the most important positions were that of Economy Minister which went to Giulio Tremonti. Franco Frattini, who has been a European Commissioner until now was appointed Foreign Minister. Ignazio La Russa will be the new Defence Minister. The Northern League, a populist party allied to Silvio Berlusconi which more than doubled its score during the general elections (rising from 3.9% to 8.3%) has been given four ministerial positions. Its leader Umberto Bossi is now Reform Minister, Robert Maroni will be Home Minister. Agriculture and the simplification of the legislation will be taken care of by Luca Zaia and Roberto Calderoli respectively. On 8th May the new head of the Italian government, together with his 21 ministers were sworn in before the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.

On 8th May Vladimir Putin was appointed Prime Minister of the government led by the new President Dmitri Medvedev. The Douma, the Lower Chamber of Parliament confirmed this choice by an overwhelming majority. The new Prime Minister spoke of the general policy he intends to undertake as head of government focussing his ideas on the stimulation of oil production, the reduction of taxes and the improvement of living standards. On 12th May he announced that Foreign Minister, Serguei Lavrov and Defence Minister, Anatoli Serdukov were to continue in their positions within the new government.

The Serbs chose integration to the European Union when they provided President Boris Tadic with victory in the general elections that took place on 11th May. The Democratic Party (DS) led by President Boris Tadic won 38.75% of the vote (102 votes) in comparison with 29.22% for the Radical Serb Party (SRS) led by Tomislav Nikolic (77 seats), 11.34% to the DSS led by outgoing Prime Minister (30 seats), 7.57% to the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), ie 20 seats and 5.3% for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ie 14 seats. International observers lauded the freedom and the efficient organisation of the general and municipal elections in Serbia on 12th May.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 6th May in March 2008 compared with February 2008, the industrial producer price index rose by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.6% in the European Union. In February prices increased by 0.7% in both zones. In March 2008, compared with the previous month, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector rose by 0.3% in both the euro area and the European Union. Prices in the energy sector increased by 1.8% and 1.5% respectively. In March 2008 compared with March 2007, industrial producer prices gained 5.7% in the euro area and 6.7% in the European Union. In March 2008, compared with March 2007, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector increased by 3.7% in the euro area and by 3.9% in the EU27. Prices in the energy sector rose by 12.7% and 15.2% respectively.

According to Eurostat figures published on 8th May in the European Union, social protection expenditure accounted for 27.2% of GDP in 2005. In the European Union of 25 this ratio was 27.4% in 2005, compared with 27.3% in 2004 and 27.4% in 2003. Social protection expenditure as a percentage of GDP was above 30% in 2005 in Sweden (32.0%), France (31.5%) and Denmark (30.1%), and below 15% in Latvia (12.4%), Estonia (12.5%), Lithuania (13.2%) and Romania (14.2%). These disparities reflect differences in living standards, but are also indicative of the diversity of national social protection systems and of the demographic, economic, social and institutional structures specific to each Member State.

The Foundation for Strategic Research has published a study by Hélène Masson entitled "Union Européenne et Armememnt: des dispositions du traité de Lisbonne aux propositions de directive de la Commission européenne." (The European Union and Arms: from measures included in the Lisbon Treaty to the European Commission's draft directive.) The author reviews the new measures in the Lisbon Treaty with regard to defence and arms and analyses the effects of the 2007 Defence Package put forward by the European Commission on 5th December last.

Alexander Rahr and Stefan Meister have published an article on behalf of the DGAP (German Foreign Policy Society) on 'Medvedev's innovations'. The new Russian President will have to face several major challenges. He will have to take care of the social and economic situation and try to reduce Russia's energy dependency in terms of its gas and oil exports. In addition to this he intends to create innovative industries and reform the areas of research, education and technology so that they are more competitive on a world scale. The focus of Mr Medvedev's strategy is his will to make Russia the 5th world economy by 2020. As he took over power on 7th May Medvedev announced that he would look into the development of SME's and the effective running of civil society.