The Irish finally said "no" to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty for which they had been called to vote on 12th June. A majority (53.4%) voted against the European text in comparison with 46.6% who said "yes" to ratification. Most of the Irish decided not to vote on the issue since nearly one in two (46.9%) did not go to ballot. Ireland, which has been presented as a symbol of European success, which 35 years after accession has become the richest country (after Luxembourg) in the European Union in terms of GDP per capita (+10% in comparison with the average), has chosen to say "no". The ratification process should continue however. During the European Council on 19th and 20th June, Prime Minister Brian Cowen will analyse the defeat of the "yes" together with the other Heads of State and Government. He is also due to put forward the solutions he has in mind to emerge from the crisis into which the Irish have plunged the European Union.

The new edition of the review Europe's World ("Vu d'Europe") is available in French thanks to the Robert Schuman Foundation and the support on the part of the French European Affairs Ministry. It includes many articles on European defence and security - by General Henri Bentégeat, Chairman of the EU Military Committee NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French State Secretary for European Affairs, has signed an article on the perspectives of the French Presidency of the European Union.

Jean-Dominique Giuliani, Chairman of the Foundation has published "A European in a Hurry" with the Editions du Moment in which he analyses Nicolas Sarkozy's European policy since he was elected on 6th May 2007. This work will be presented to the press in Brussels on 19th June.

Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenian Foreign Affairs Minister chaired the ministerial troika on 9th June with the People's Republic of China. The European and Chinese delegations addressed the themes of Sino-European relations, mainly on the establishment of a partnership and co-operation partnership as well as the assessment of the situation in Tibet and the issue of Human Rights.

The European prizes in the education and Life-Long Training Programme were awarded for the first time on 13th June during the conference "Quality in Mobility". The prizes given to the projects Erasmus, Grundtvig, Comenius, Leonardo and Languages were delivered by Milan Zver, Slovenian Education and Sport Minister and Jan Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. The gold prize was awarded to projects such as the partnership between two Latvian and Czech schools, a staff exchange programme between a Danish firefighting service provider and his British counterpart as well training on religious diversity and the fight against discrimination co-ordinated by the European Jewish Information Centre in Brussels.

MEPs have decided to make the blogosphere more transparent given the problems of intellectual property and intrusion into private life. According to a report on concentration and pluralism in the media in the EU, adopted on 2nd June by the "Culture Commission" "the expansion of blogs implies the need to establish legal guarantees with regard to the attribution of responsiblities in the case of legal proceedings and to establish a right to respond." Consequently it suggests the assimilation of blogs with "all other forms of public expression."

On 11th June the European Commission drew up conclusions that aim to attenuate the effects of world oil price risees that reached their highest level since the end of the '70's. Notably these include stepping up the drive for energy efficiency in business and private households, a commitment to make proposals on the transparency of commercial oil stocks by the end of the year and support for the organisation of a global fuel summit between main producing and consuming countries to discuss a wide range of issues related to the balanced functioning of oil markets. Finally the Commission agreed that member States take short term initiatives to support the most deprived sectors of the population. These measures should fit into a co-ordinated strategy and should avoid distorting effects on the internal market or on fiscal and monetary policy.

On 11th June the European Commission decided to launch an in-depth investigation to ascertain whether the loan of nearly 300 million euros granted to Alitalia by the Italian State on 22nd April last is compatible with the Community rules on state aid. The Commission considers, at this stage, that this measure in favour of Alitalia could constitute state aid that is incompatible with the Community rules in force and could therefore give the company an unjustified advantage over its competitors. As Alitalia has already benefited from rescue and restructuring aid, Italy cannot, in principle, grant it any more aid.

On 12th June the European Commission adopted a new measure as part of the simplification procedure of the common agricultural policy (CAP). It has decided to eliminate the vast majority of licence obligations for imports and exports in the agricultural sector and the rationalisation of related rules. The use of licences allows for a detailed monitoring of trade in often sensitive product areas and facilitates the anticipation of trade developments. Overall, the number of products for which a licence is required has been considerably reduced which simplifies matters considerably. Operators will no longer have to apply for licences and deposit costly securities, and national authorities will no longer need to process them, thereby saving time and reducing costs. It will allow the Common Agricultural Policy to once again contribute to the overall target of a 25 percent reduction in administrative burden.

Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, announced on 13th June that the suspension of cereal import duties will remain in force for the next marketing year - which will end on June 30th, 2009. The proposal, which was put to the Management Committee for cereals is a reaction to the continuing tight situation on the cereals markets and the resulting high price levels. Import duties were first suspended on 1st January for six months until 1st July 2008 and the Commission has now extended this deadline unless market conditions justify their re-introduction before that date. This extension comes in spite of reticence on the part of some States (France and Germany included), in seeing the EU giving up the tools to protect its agricultural market. Two types of cereal have also been added to the list by the Commission: millet and buckwheat.

On 13th June the European Commission announced that it is closing the bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic for the purse seine fleets, as it deems that the quotas allocated to them will shortly have been exhausted. Purse seiners from Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus and Malta will be prohibited from fishing as of 00h00 16 June, and purse seiners from Spain will be prohibited from fishing as of 00h00 23 June. The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect this fragile resource, and ensure the recovery of the stock in line with the 15-year recovery plan agreed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). The Commission is determined to use all necessary means to prevent a recurrence of the substantial overfishing seen in 2007.

On 12th and 13th June the 27 Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Ministers approved three legislative proposals aiming to stop gaps in the present community legislation. This involved the proposed regulation establishing common rules on market access to the international road haulage market, the occupation of road transport operator and the international market for coach and bus services. These proposals include the obligatory training of hauliers, a controlable definition of cabotage (this involves freight transport within a Member State by a haulier established in another), mechanisms to undertake certain types of sanction beyond borders between Member States.

The European Union's High Representative for the Common Defence and Security Policy, Javier Solana travelled to Iran on 13th and 14th June and presented a co-operation proposal in the nuclear domain on behalf of the EU and six countries (China, France, Germany, Russia, UK and the USA), so that settled diplomatic relations can be established with Iran and for the negotiation of a programme in which both sides would be winners. The parties he represented are ready to acknowledge Iran's right to have nuclear energy for peaceful means suggesting a privileged partnership for the management of nuclear waste. The conditions set by the international community are full co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency) as well as the application of the UN Security Council resolutions. This partnership might be extended to include political, economic and even energy co-operation.

On 15th June the German Home Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble suggested the direct election of an EU President to strengthen transparency in the wake of the Irish "no" to the European Treaty. "I am in favour that one day as part of a European election we shall elect the President of the European Council directly, this future leading personality of Europe," he indicated in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "People do not like certain aspects of Brussels' policy because it is not transparent enough (...) but I am certain that in Europe there is a clear majority for the continuation of European unification," he said.

The German government would like to make training its leading priorities whilst the educational system has been diminished over the last few years and is hindering the development of the leading economic power in Europe. Just one year before the general elections Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on 12th June that there would be a national offensive on training and education. She has adopted this theme as her own: the need for reform is agreed upon by all both on the left and the right. "The Federal Republic must become the leading republic in terms of training," where each has a chance of promotion.

Following the negative result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared their joint respect of the negative Irish referendum even though they deplored this choice. They encouraged the countries which still have to ratify the text of the Lisbon Treaty to complete the ratification procedure. Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker deplored the rejection of the referendum and said that this vote represented a democratic choice that had to be respected. He called for the completion of the ratificiation process pushing aside the hypothesis of any type of plan B before this had been done. British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown confirmed the UK's position of continuing the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty text in Parliament according to the planned deadlines. Spanish diplomatic leader Miguel Angel Moratinos believed that the Irish "no" to the Lisbon Treaty was "not good news" saying however that "Europe would not stop" and that "a solution" would be found.

In an editorial entitled "If the people says no, let the people speak!" the Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation calls for the politicization of the European elections in June 2009. He suggests that European political parties organise a real transnational campaign with their candidate for the seat of the President of the Commission. Heads of State and Government might also organise a consultative referendum on this occasion on the choice of president for the European Council.

In a letter addressed to Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu on 12th June UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced plans to reconfigure the international forces in Kosovo. He indicates that the UN mission in Kosovo (UNIMIK) must take on board the situation that has arisen since the declaration of independence in Kosovo on 17th February and that a new UNIMIK representative was to be appointed in the near future in replacement of Joachim Ruecker. This reshuffle will also enable the EU to enhance its operational role in Kosovo: the EULEX mission must monitor the estblishment of the state of law in Kosovo. The UN Secretary General believes that KFOR must continue to guarantee security on the borders.

According to Eurostat figures published on 11th June the European Union's external current account recorded a deficit of 23.7 billion euro in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a deficit of 30.4 bn in the first quarter of 2007 and a deficit of 2.8 bn in the fourth quarter of 2007. In the first quarter of 2008, the EU external balance of trade in services recorded a surplus of 16.3 bn euro, compared with a surplus of 18.9 bn in the first quarter of 2007 and a surplus of 21.4 bn in the fourth quarter of 2007.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 13th June the number of persons employed in the euro area rose by 0.3% (446 000 persons) in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter. In the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU also grew by 0.3% (753 000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.3% in both zones. Compared with the first quarter of 2007, employment grew by 1.6% in both the euro area and the EU in the first quarter of 2008, after +1.8% in both zones in the fourth quarter of 2007. Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2008, 226.0 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 145.7 million were in the euro area.

According to Eurostat figures published on 13th June the total hourly labour costs in the euro area rose by 3.3% in nominal terms in the year up to the first quarter of 2008, compared with 2.9% for the previous quarter. In the European Union, the annual rise was 4.3% up to the first quarter of 2008, compared with 3.6% for the previous quarter. The two main components of labour costs are wages & salaries and non-wage costs. In the euro area, wages & salaries grew by 3.7% in the year up to the first quarter of 2008, and non-wage costs by 2.3%, compared with 3.2% and 2.0% respectively for the fourth quarter of 2007. In the European Union, wages & salaries rose by 4.7% and the non-wage component by 3.1%. For the previous quarter the corresponding rates were 3.9% and 2.7%.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 16th June the annual inflation rate in the euro zone lay at 3.7% in May 2008, against 3.3% in April. One year previously it lay at 1.9%. The monthly inflation rate lay at 0.6% in May 2008.

The director of the French office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Beatrice Gorawantschy has published a study on France before the start of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1st July next. She analyses the political, social and economic situation in France one year after the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as President of the French Republic and looks into the new direction taken with regard to the foreign policy.

The Bruegel Institute has presented a study entitled "A Tail of two Countries" analysing the economic situation of the two most performant countries in the euro area, Ireland and Spain. However their economic results now seem to be declining with serious effects on the housing market. Authors Alan Ahearne, Juan Delgado and Jakob von Wiezsäcker analyse the trends in the housing market in these countries and attempt to decipher policies and specific aspects that led to such vigorous activity in this sector.

The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) has published "Security versus Justice? Police and Judicial Cooperation in the European Union" which presents the changes that the Union has experienced since the Amsterdam Treaty in terms of police and judicial co-operation. Three questions have been addressed: how did we get to the Reform Treaty; what have been – and still are – the key struggles in competence; and how do the changes fit into the transformation of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU?

"Friends of Europe" have published a report by Kirsty Hughes on the EU's means to accomplish its foreign policy. This is a vital debate for the future role of Europe in the world.

According to the annual report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), published on 9th June world military expenditure increased by 6% in 2007 and this has risen by 45% in ten years. Last year they reached 1.339 billion dollars (851 billion euros), with the USA representing 45% of this total which corresponds to 2.5% of the GDP or 202 dollars per person (128.4 euros). Over the period 1998-2007 Eastern Europe recorded the highest rise in expenditure that more than doubled (+162%) and this is where expenditure increased the most last year (+15%), says this report. With a 13% increase in 2007 Russia counted for 86% of regional expenditure increases. The American and Western European companies(respectiviely 41 and 34) easily dominated this market, undertaking 92% of the sales in 2006 alone, the last year for which the SIPRI has any data.

Aurélien Lechevallier and Alexandre de Montbas have just published a book with Ellipses entitled "L'Europe en Questions". This publication explains how the EU is run and the main issues at stake. It is addressed to all citizens who want to understand the Union, whose influence over political and economic life is considerable.