As part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union the Robert Schuman Foundation has established four partnerships to speak of Europe with its citizens; it has joined forces with L'Express.fr, Autoroute FM, the newspaper of the Saône-et-Loire and Ouest France.

During a ministerial meeting in Cannes on 7th and 8th July the French Presidency presented a project to its partners for a European Immigration and Asylum Pact that was approved by all. This Pact aims to express strong political commitment linking the EU and its Member States to common principles that will provide a framework for migratory policies in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility. It aims to ensure better control of Europe's borders notably with the enhancement of the role played by Frontex, the European police agency for border control. The project is due to be adopted by Heads of State and Government during the European Council on 15th and 16th October next. The adoption of concrete measures were also put forward for the protection of vulnerable adults and children as well as the development of a common judicial culture of magistrates and European legal staff.

On 8th July an agreement on the proposed directive including air traffic in the emissions quota exchange system that was approved by the European Parliament 640 votes in favour, 30 against and 20 abstentions. In virtue of the new directive all flights starting and/or landing in Europe (including intercontinental flights) to be included in the ETS from 1st January 2012. As from that date the emission quotes granted to airlines will be limited to 97% of their average annual emissions between 2004-2006 and 95% in 2013. In addition to this 85% of the emissions certificates will be allocated for free according to a common European benchmark. The revenues generated from the auctioning of emissions allowances should be used to fund: climate change mitigation; research on clean aircraft; anti-deforestation measures in the developing world;low-emission transport. Rapporteur Peter Liese (EPP-ED, DE) said that this directive might serve a model worldwide.

Since 2002 marine fuel prices in the EU have risen by 240%. Therefore on 8th July the European Commission adopted emergency measures to encourage the restructuring of the European fishing fleet which have been hardest hit by the current fuel crisis. The core of the proposal consists of a regime of temporary derogations to the European Fisheries Fund (EFF), allowing funds to be targeted quickly where they are needed most to address the underlying causes of the crisis, and provide short-term support to the hardest-hit segments of the fleet. In addition to this the Commission has announced an additional sum of 600 million euros to fund this specific temporary action. The Council will look into how these measures are being adopted in July thereby enabling speedy their implementation.

On 7th July during a Eurogroup meeting Finance Ministers from the 15 Member States of the euro area debated the economic situation in Europe, notably with regard to the development of oil and food prices. With regard to inflation all Eurogroup ministers said they were concerned about the present situation. They announced that economic growth in the euro area in the second semester would be much worse than in the first. Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that the fight against inflation was not only the responsibility of the Central Bank but also that of the governments. As for oil prices Eurogroup believes that we shall have to get used to the idea that "prices will remain very high over the months to come." Finally Eurogroup continued its exchange of views on the European Commission's communication strategy, on the running of the Economic and Monetary Union now that it has been in existence for ten years.

German Home Minister Wolfgang Schäuble granted an interview to Deutschlandradio on 7th July focussing mainly on the EU's immigration and asylum policy. France, which is at present presiding over the Council of the European Union has made this one of its priorities and presented its "European Pact for Immigration" during the Justice and Internal Affairs Council on 7th July. Wolfgang Schäuble also spoke of the monitoring of the borders and illegal immigration, saying that "Europe is not a fortress".

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer has convened early general elections for 28th September. Relations between the social-democrats and the conservatives who have been part of a right/left coalition since 2006 have declined preventing most of the proposed reforms to be validated. The Chancellor also announced that he would not stand in these elections leaving Werner Faymann at the head of the SPÖ list. The only major reform undertaken by the coalition has been that of the electoral law adopted in June 2007, which extends an MP's mandate to five years and brings the legal voting age down to 16. It is the social-democrat programme with regard to European policy that notably includes a referendum on the future EU treaties "which affects the fundamental interests of Austria", that started this government crisis, finally leading to early elections.

On 11th July Belgium completed the parliamentary ratification process of the European Lisbon Treaty thereby becoming the 22nd Member State to validate the text. The treaty still has to be formally signed by the King for ratification to be complete. The Robert Schuman Foundation maintains an updated map on its internet site explaining the developments in terms of ratification per country.

During a trip to Greece on 10th July the head of the Spanish government José Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero met with Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis. They addressed economic co-operation between Greece and Spain, illegal immigation, renewable sources of energy and price rises. Costas Caramanlis laid emphasis on issues relating to imigration and asylum rights. Jose Luis Zapatero demanded that rich countries honour their commitments made against poverty in Africa. Hundreds of Africans aspiring to the "European Eldorado" die every year when they try to cross over to the coasts of Europe. He repeated that "Europe could not become a fortress", that legal and illegal immigration should be better organised.

On 8th July Anne-Marie Idrc, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Member of the Board of the Robert Schuman Foundation and Martin Riman, Czech Industry and Trade Minister launched the Franco-Czech Economic Year in Paris showing their mutual desire to increase economic exchange between the two countries.

Due to the world economic crisis and the deterioration of the building sector Irish economic growth will be less than planned in 2008. If no measures are taken public finances are due to worsen and draw close to the 3% GDP limit established by the Stability and Growth Pact. The Irish government therefore decided on 8th July to undertake a certain number of measures designed to prevent the economic situation deteriorating too much in Ireland and to recover a potential growth level of 4%.

On 14th July the Lithuanian parliament voted in favour of a referendum in order to delay the closure of the nuclear power plant Ignalina that provides 70% of the country's electricity - this measure has been requested by the EU and is planned for the end of 2009. 87 MPs voted in favour of a referendum on 12th October at the same time as the general elections. Only 5 MPs were against. "After the closure of Ignalina the price of electricity will be multiplied by four," declared Vyautas Bogusis, the MP at the source of the referendum, adding "in 2010 the situation will be catastrophic." The referendum will be symbolic because its result will have no legal value - however the aim is to strengthen Vilnius's position in its negotiations with the EU to achieve a new deadline for the closure of the plant. Lithuania is worried about the possibility of finding itself totally dependent on Russia in terms of energy, whilst relations with Moscow are extremely tense.

On 8th July the Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer) adopted by a wide majority (60 of the 75 members) a law opening the way to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The lower chamber of parliament (Tweede Kamer) had already ratified the Lisbon Treaty on 5th June. Now it remains for the Queen Beatrix to sign in order for the ratification process to be totally complete. The Netherlands is the 21st country to ratify the treaty. The Robert Schuman Foundation maintains an updated map explaining the developments of the ratifications per country on its internet site.

Bronislaw Geremek, MEP, a major figure of the Polish anti-communist opposition and former Polish Foreign Minister died on 13th July. Many European leaders lauded "the exceptional European," a major figure of the construction of Europe and of the reunification of the continent" and emphasised the fight he had undertaken within Solidarnosc in support of Polish democracy.

On 8th July Aleksander Milinkevich, head of the democratic opposition in Belarus and European Parliament Sakharov Prize Winner 2006 accused the State's leaders of being at the source of a bomb attack in which dozens of people were injured in Minsk last week.

During a conference of donors in Brussels the international community promised on 11th July to provide Kosovo with 1.2 billion euro to revive its economy. Most of the donations are for the period 2008-2009 and some donors said they were prepared to provide for the period 2010-2011.

Nearly two months after the general elections the Democratic Party led by President Boris Tadic and the Socialist Party came to agreement on 7th July to form a government in Serbia. The new government comprising 27 members including 6 women has a four year mandate and was supported by 127 of the 164 MPs present. Its aims it to draw closer to European institutions after the crisis provoked by the unilateral declaration of independence on the part of Kosovo. Serbia intends to obtain candidate status for accession to the EU by the end of the year or at the start of next year. It already signed a Stabilisation and Association agreement in April; this was the first step towards acession.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushenko welcomed his Maltese counterpart Edward Fenech Adami on 9th July during an official visit to Kiev. This visit gave rise to the signature of two intergovernmental decisions: one on the fight against organised crime and the other on co-operation in terms of tourism between the two countries. The Maltese president promised to support the Ukraine's bid to join the EU amongst the other Member States.

During a tripartite meeting between the Council of Europe, the UN and the OSCE on 7th July the three organisations recalled that intercultural dialogue and the management of cultural diversity were two of their priorities. Intercultural dialogue relies on the promotion of Human Rights and should lead to the prevention of conflict. Religious institutions have an active role to play in the fight against radicalization. Greater co-operation and better co-ordination will be established between the three institutions to improve the integration of minorities and to fight against terrorism.

The G8 that brought together the eight most powerful economies in the world (USA, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Canada and Russia) took place between 7th and 9th July in Japan. The environment was the focus of a joint agreement to reduce world CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050. With regard to the economy the countries expressed their concern about the rise in oil and foodstuffs prices. They called on oil producing countries to increase production and refinement to put a halt to price rises. They reiterated their promise of aid to Africa in the areas of access to water, healthcare and education. They called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and to have a constructive diplomatic attitude in the region's stabilisation process; they recalled their support of work undertaken in Afghanistan and the negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

IMF Director General Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced on 7th July a series of major reforms in the working programme of the institution by focussing on four main objectives. Firstly the idea is to help member countries face up to imminent crises, to learn from financial market crises and improve supervision. The tools for international loans also have to be reformulated for countries facing the volatility of financial flows and who only have limited access to private capital. New organisation tools also have to be established and working methods have to be renewed. Finally progress has to be made in the area of IMF governance.

NATO Member States signed Albania and Croatia's accession protocol on 9th July, a new stage before the entry by these two countries into the Atlantic Alliance in 2009. Macedonia's candidature remains at stalemate given the dispute with Greece over the use of the name "Macedonia".

According to figures published by Eurostat on 9th July Euro area and EU GDP grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the previous quarter. More precisely, Slovenia (+2.2%) recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Slovakia (+2.1%) and Malta (+1.7%). In addition to this household final consumption expenditure increased by 0.2% in the euro area and by 0.3% in the EU. Investment grew by 1.6% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU. Finally exports rose by 1.9% in the euro area and by 2.0% in the EU. Imports increased by 2.0% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU.

According to a Eurobarometer on the role of the EU in the area of justice policies, freedom and security 81% of Europeans think that it is necessary for more decisions to be taken on a European level in terms of the fight against terrorism, and 76% believe the same with regard to the exchange of police and judicial information between Member States. This also applies to the fight against organised crime.

The Centre for Applied Policy Research in Munich (CAP) has just published a study on Transatlantic relations entitled "What drives the Transatlantic partners?". Author, Thomas Bauer explains that the West has to redefine its strategic goals in order to rise to common challenges which both the EU and the USA are facing in a time of globalisation.

The "Documentation Française" has published as part of its collection "Réflexe Europe" a study by Jean-Luc Sauron and Virginie Lanceron on "National Administration and Europe, National Players and Community Decisions." This work analyses the role played by the French in European decision making and presents that of the 26 other Member States.

On the occasion of the French Presidency of the European Union the INA and Culturesfrance have opened an audiovisual website on cultural Europe comprising an extensive interactive panorama of around 300 videos on artists, creators, objects, places or cultural events that have been significant for each of the 27 countries of the EU over the last fifty years. Thanks to French TV archives this site shows how French culture has intermingled with the cultures of other member countries and how a European culture is now emerging.