The Robert Schuman Foundaion is organising a presentation of its publication "L'Etat de l'Union, Rapport Schuman 2009 sur l'Europe" on 15th April at the Centre d'Analyse de la Presse Etrangère(CAPE) together with Bruno le Maire, Secretary of State for European Affairs and many other authors. This work includes 19 articles by the best European experts, 31 unique colour maps, 68 detailed tables and graphs as well as an exclusive interview with Mr Schäuble, Home Minister for the Federal Republic of Germany. The work has been published by Lignes de Repères.

On 6th April Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivered a speech to the Russian parliament. He warned his countrymen that 2009 would be "very difficult" but said that "the worst" had been avoided in Russia and that the crisis would be "overcome".

On 8th April the Member States and the European Parliament reached agreement to facilitate the release of money for workers affected by the crisis and for them to retrain after dismissal. In the wake of the European recovery plan the European Commission suggested extending the criteria to grant aid from the European Globalisation Ajustment Fund: from now on this aid will also be released for the re-insertion of workers affected by the economic crisis. Under the agreement, Member States may apply for financial support for crisis-affected enterprises that will dismiss 500 workers, as opposed to the current threshold of 1,000. Furthermore, over the next two years, the level of EU-provided financial support will increase to 65%, compared to the current 50%.

Nobel Medicine Prize Winner 2008, Luc Montagnier took part in a conference at the European Parliament on 6th April on the future of biomedical research. His research on the HIV virus has led him to think that a therapeutic vaccine could be available in four to five years time. He also said that the EU should focus its research work on the fight against AIDS.

On 8th April the European Commission adopted an updated version of the blacklist of banned airlines which are prohibited from flying over the European Union due to security reasons. The Commission imposed a ban on six airlines from Kazakhstan, a certified airline from Thailand, another Ukrainian carrier and all certified carriers from Benin.

On 6th April in Luxembourg the 27 Home and Justice Ministers came to an agreement on the settlement of conflict in criminal jurisdiction and had an initial exchange of views on the measures to take with regard to the fight against sexual abuse. They continued their examination of a future single working permit for immigrants in the EU. The European Police Office (Europol) was transformed into an EU agency. Ministers appointed Rob Wainwright as Director General of Europol. He is presently the director of the international division of a British organisation, the Serious Organised Crime Agency(SOCA) and he will be replacing Max-Peter Ratzel, whose mandate is coming to an end on 15th April.

On 8th April the European Commission and the TV channel MTV announced a joint initiative called "Can you hear me Europe?" to encourage young people to take part in the European Parliament elections in June. Turn-out of young people was extremely low during the last elections in 2004 and so this campaign should help them express what they think of the EU and what they are expecting of it. The campaign will be undertaken with televised clips to be broadcast all over Europe.

According to a survey published in the daily 'Handelsblatt' on 8th April more than 80% of managers of major companies would like a reduction in taxes after the general elections on 27th September, especially on income tax (66%) and on profits (57%).

Austrian President Heinz Fischer met his Serb counterpart Boris Tadic on 7th April in Vienna, renewing Austria's support for Serbia's rapprochement with the EU. However this is at present conditioned by Serbia's total cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). During the meeting the two presidents discussed bilateral economic relations. Austria is Serbia's main European investor and Austrian banks control 2/3 of the Serb banking sector.

On 6th April the Belgian Institute for Equality between Men and Women published its 2009 report on the differences in wages in Belgium that rise to 11% on average - slightly down on 2005 when the figure stood at 13%. In the private sector differences in salaries can reach 27% however. Wage differences can rise to 22% amongst highly qualified workers in full time employment and to 21% amongst part-time workers. Amongst managers the wage difference is highest - 33%. Only 23% of managers are women.

On 5th April after the resignation of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, appointed Secretary General of NATO on 4th April, Lars Loekke Rasmussen became Prime Minister of Denmark. He formed his government on 7th April. The post of Finance Minister which was occupied by the new Prime Minister was granted to Claus Hjort Frederiksen. The Minister for the Welfare State and Parity, a post from which Karen Jespersen resigned on 3rd April saying that the portfolio was too vast, was divided up and given to two women: Karen Ellemann was appointed Home and Social Affairs Minister and Inger Stoejberg, Minister for Employment and Parity.

On 7th April Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves received his Latvian counterpart Valdis Zatler on an official State visit. The two heads of State notaby discussed bilateral economic and political relations. Latvia is the leading destination for Estonian investments. It so happens that 1000 companies with Estonian paricipation are registered in Latvia. In addition to this the idea of joint diplomatic missions is becoming a reality: in 2010 Estonia will open diplomatic offices in the Latvian embassy in Cairo.

The head of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, announced on 7th April that he was going to reshuffle his government. Elena Salgado, Minister of Public Administration to date will replace Pedro Sobres as Economy and Finance Minister. The head of the Spanish government explained that he wanted to "mark a change of pace in the fight against the economic crisis." He announced six changes within sixteen ministries. The President of Andalusia, Manuel Chaves has been appointed third Vice-President and Minister for Territorial Cooperation. The Deputy Secretary General of the Spanish Socialist Party, José Blanco is to replace Magdalena Alvarez at the Infrastructure and Transport Ministry; Angel Gabilondo has been appointed Education Minister in place of Mercedes Cabrera, Angeles Gonzalez Sinde, Culture Minister is to replace Cesar Antonio Molina, and Trinidad Jimenez, Health and Social Policy Minister, Bernat Soria.

The National Assembly experienced a rather rare event on 9th April when the draft law punishing the illegal downloading of files from the internet was rejected during the final vote. With the show of hands, 21 votes against 15, the opposition, together with some majority MPs, rejected the latest version of the text on the "protection of internet rights" that had been written by the Mixed Parity Commission and adopted the same morning in the Senate. It is the fourth time since the beginning of the 5th Republic that the Assembly has rejected a text issued by the MPC (seven MPs and seven Senators repsonsible for establishing a compromise text). The text is due to be brought before Parliament again in May. It should be noted that the European Parliament was divided on this subject and its decision was against the will of the Frenh government and the majority in the French National Assembly. Will the French be the exception in this matter?

Hungarian Socialist MPs delivered a "constructive" censure motion against Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany so that they could appoint his successor Gordon Bajnai without having to resort to organising another election. Parliament has to approve the motion delivered by 92 MPs within a maximum of eight days. If the motion is adopted by the majority of the MPs then the vote will also allow for the dismissal of Ferenc Gyurcsany and the election of neutral Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai. The vote should go in his favour because he has clinched the support of both Socialists and Liberals who together hold the absolute majority in Parliament. Mr Bajnai who is due to appoint a government of experts accepted the post of Prime Minister until the next general elections in the spring of 2010. He is due to appoint his government after the motion is voted on 14th April.

Latvian Foreign Minister, Maris Rieks announced on 7th April that he was "happy with the final and non-negotiable decision on the part of the constitutional Court that has put an end to further discssion on the conformity of the law to ratify the Lisbon Treaty with the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia."

On 9th April Czech President Vaclav Klaus appointed Jan Fischer, interim Prime Minister, until the general elections planned for in the autumn in replacement of the present government which has resigned. Previously Jan Fischer was chairman of the Czech Statistics Office. He is considered as someone with no political affiliation. In an initial declaration Jan Fischer said he did not feel obliged to adhere to the proposals put forward by the parties to form the new interim government. "I shall be responsible for the government, for its running in the Chamber of Deputies and in the face of any other person. I shall take this on board when I choose my team," he said.

Serb Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac and his Slovenian counterpart Ljubica Jelusic signed a defence cooperation agreement on 8th April. After signing the agreement Dragan Sutanovac reassured Serbia of his country's support with regard to EU integration and the liberalisation of the visa regime.

Launched in December 2008 the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, is now deployed across the entire country and is operational said the Head of the Mission, Yves de Kermabon, during the inauguration of the new premises in Pristina on 6th April. Some 2500 policemen, judges, customs officers and administrative experts have been sent to help Kosovo establish the rule of law. 500 local experts will be helping them. This EU mission replaces UNMIK, the interim administrative mission launched in 1999 by the UN, which will now simply have the role of "observer". This is the biggest civilian mission in the EU's history which bears witness, in the opinion of the head of European diplomacy, Javier Solana, to the EU's major commitment in the Western Balkans. EULEX is to to help foster stability across the entire region.

Aleksander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, accepted the resignation of his Home Minister, Vladimir Naoumov on 6th April for "health reasons"; the latter had been identified as responsible for the disappearances of opponents such as former Prime Minister Viktor Gontchar in 2000 and Yuri Zakharenko in 1999, in a PACE report (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) presented in 2004. This resignation is meant to improve relations between Belarus and the EU which has decided to open talks on Human Rights which it hopes will lead to democratisation of the country. The EU is to decide soon on the possible renewal of sanctions against Belarus that were suspended for six months on 13th October last year to enable a resumption of dialogue with the country. However government opponents are still too frequently the target of intimidation.

On 8th April the Moldovan Electoral Commission announced the results of the recount of all the votes in the general elections that took place on 5th April. The Communists won 49.48% of the vote ie 60 of the 101 seats after a recount of 100% of the slips announced Yuri Ciocan, the Commission's director. The preliminary results gave the Communists 49.9% of the votes ie 61 seats, the 3/5 majority required to elect the president. This result was denounced as an outrage by opponents who now theoretically have a chance of preventing the election of the head of state by Parliament. The Liberal Party won 13.14% of the vote (15 seats), the Liberal-Democratic Party (12.43%, 15 seats) and the Our Moldova Alliance (9.77%, 11 seats). Moldova has been subject to a series of demonstrations over the last few days in Chisinau where hundreds of young people have been expressing their rejection of the Communist victory in the general elections.

During an EU-USA summit in Prague American President Barack Obama re-iterated the need for Turkey's accession to the EU which would comprise a "major signal" to the Muslim world. On 6th April the American president, who was on an official visit to Turkey, pleaded again for Turkey's membership whilst Spanish head of government José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero repeated his support of the country's candidature during the second forum of the Alliance of Civilisations. Some countries such as France and Germany are still against the idea of Turkey entering the EU and privilege another form of association.

Spanish Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, Chairman in office of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe said on 8th April on the International Rom Day that "it was thanks to the partnership agreement with the European Forum of Roms and Travellers" signed in 2004 that the Council of Europe was strengthening Rom participation and representation across Europe." He also said that the situation for the Roms was a priority of the Spanish presidency.

On 7th April a ceremony took place in Brussels heralding Albania and Croatia's entry into NATO; in attendance were Albanian and Croatian Prime Ministers Sali Berisha and Ivo Sanader. Albania and Croatia became members of NATO on 1st April last. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO's Secretary General declared that the adhesion of these two countries showed that "the idea of freedom was irresistible".

On 6th and 7th April the second forum of the Alliance of Civilisations recalled the importance of dialogue, tolerance and the respect of all religions. For his part Ban ki Moon, the UN Secretary General stressed that the alliance of civilisations would help to maintain peace and provide impetus to the economy, thereby making societies more stable. This forum also addressed the world financial crisis and issues related to the Middle East.

The report by the Secretariat of the World Trade Organisation on trade policies and practices in the European Communities which served as a base in the ninth review of the EC trade policy on 6th and 8th April bears witness to global economic results in 2006 and 2007 in the EC even though the situation worsened as from the second half of 2008 on. The report advises on fundamental structural reform ranging from greater liberalisation of services and the agricultural policy, which would lead to a better distribution of community resources and would help to the completion of the internal market.

According to Eurostat estimates published on 7th April the euro area and EU GDP declined respectively by 1.6% and 1.5% over the fourth quarter 2008 in comparison with the previous quarter, (growth rates were -0.3% in both zones). In the fourth quarter of 2008 and among the Member States for which seasonally adjusted GDP data are available, Slovakia (+2.1%) recorded the highest growth rate compared with the previous quarter, followed by Cyprus (+0.6%), Greece and Poland (both +0.3%). In comparison with the fourth quarter 2007 the GDP dropped by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU against +0.6% and +0.7% in the previous quarter. In 2008 GDP growth lay at 0.8% in the euro area and 0.9% in the EU whilst the USA's GDP increased by 1.1% and that of Japan decreased by 0.6%.

The German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) has just published a study entitled "Multipolare Rhetorik vs Unilaterale Ambitionen - Die Grenzen russischer Außenpolitik" - Multipolar Rhetoric vs Unilateral Ambitions - the Limits of Russian Foreign Policy". Stefan Meister believes that commitment in favour of a multipolar world order opposed to American unilateralism has been a constant element of Russian foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. However this position is not leading Russia to act in a multilateral manner since Moscow's policy is less focused on consensus and cooperation and more on the desire to go it alone and privilege national interests.

On 9th April the Institute of European Studies published a study entitled "The European Commission and Interest Groups". Author Irina Tanasescu analyses the specific interactions that took place between the European Commission and interest groups from the perspective of deliberative democracy. Three case studies (the 2003 Communication on Integrated Product Policy, the 2005 Directive on the Ecodesign of Energy-Using Products and the Impact Assessment Guidelines) lead to a detailed analysis of the interactions between European civil servants and lobbyists in concrete instances of consultation.

Until 29th July the Sprengel Museum in Hannover is presenting an exhibition on the influence of the French painter Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) on his German contemporaries Franz Marc (1880-1916) and August Macke (1887-1914) on the eve of the First World War. Entitled "Marc, Macke and Delaunay. The beauty of a broken world (1910-1914)", it shows simultaneously 90 paintings and around 100 water colours and drawings created by the three artists.