The Robert Schuman Foundation and the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University are organising a conference in Washington on 19th May entitled "France, America and the World: a New Era in France-American Relations?" together with Jean François-Poncet, former French Foreign Minister, Member of the Foundation's Administrative Board. Five themes will be addressed: strategic challenges; economy; the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Russia and finally Africa. This conference will enable the conclusion of work by the Franco-American group that was established by the two organisers in the summer of 2008. An initial conference was organised in Paris on 5th December 2008. This work will be the focus of a bilingual publication.

The German Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) that meets in the Reichstag will elect the next German President on 23rd May next, the traditional day for the Presidential election in Germany since 1979. This Assembly which comprises 612 members of the Bundestag, the lower chamber in Parliament, an equivalent number of representatives from the 16 Länder to a total of 1,224 members. The election takes place by secret ballot according to absolute majority in two initial rounds. Three candidates are running: Horst Köhler, 66 years old, outgoing head of State; Gesine Schwan, 66 years old, President of the University Viadrina at Frankfurt on the Oder; Peter Sodann, 73, actor, candidate running for the Left Party(L). Horst Köhler is due to win 604 votes on 23rd May next from the Christian-Democratic Union and from the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) which sit in the German Federal Assembly. He is also due to win the 10 votes of the Free Voters (Freiwähler), a movement that was recently created and which rallies those who are disappointed by the CSU (Christian-Social Union) and which called on its members to support the outgoing President of the Republic.

On 25th May as part of the project "Women in Europe: achieving parity" piloted by the Robert Schuman Foundation and funded by the European Commission, the Constantin Karamanlis Institute for Democracy (CKID) organised a conference in Athens on the presence of women in Greek society.

On the occasion of the EU-Russia summit on 21st and 22nd May the Robert Schuman Foundation is publishing a paper by Michel Foucher, member of the Foundation's Scientific Committee entitled "The EU and its Great Russian Neighbour: how should we build a sustainable partnership?" in the third edition of the "State of the Union 2009, Schuman Report on Europe." This work offers original analyses, unique maps and vital data to understand everything about Europe; it is published by Lignes de Repères and is available in French in bookshops and on the Foundation's internet site.

As part of the partnership between the Robert Schuman Foundation and the Figaro, the Foundation Chairman Jean-Dominique Giuliani has signed an article entitled "France seeking influence in Strasbourg". The Figaro's internet site has also put a column on-line entitled "Europeans: a pre-legislative campaign in Germany?"

Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, leading candidate on the Flemish liberals list in the European Elections in June, put forward his proposals on 12th May to bring Europe out of the economic crisis. He advised cleaning the European banking system of its toxic assets, the launch of an investment plan respresenting 6% of the European GDP and the creation of a European economic government. Moreover he accused the European Commission of being inactive and inert in the face of the crisis and he called on the European Parliament to refuse the appointment of the next President of the European Commission if the latter did not put forward to a real European recovery strategy.

The European Parliament is broadcasting original videos to mobilise voters in time for the European election on 4th-7th June. Given diverse situations the protagonists always find time to go and vote. These messages aim to raise awareness with regard to the importance of the election.

The new site by the Robert Schuman Foundation devoted to the European elections (www.elections-europeennes.org) provides internet users with an interactive map in both French and English giving all the national party lists running, together with an electoral campaign analysis in each Member State just one month before the election.

On the occasion of the European elections the Foundation for Political Innovation, the Robert Schuman Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Centre for European Studies have undertaken a survey in the 27 EU countries amongst more than 15,000 Europeans. What are their expectations with regard to this election? What issues do they believe are a priority? What do they expect of an MEP? What means do they privilege to make their voice heard by their governments? The results will be released on 18th May at 15:00 in the presence of French National Education Minister, Xavier Darcos. Survey results are available on the Foundation for Political Innovation's site and our site devoted to the European elections: www.elections.europeennes.org.

On 13th May the Estonian Statistics Bureau announced a 15.6% decrease in growth in Estonia in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison with the previous year. The fall in added value in areas such as construction and manufactured goods and the wholesale and retail markets have especially influenced this contraction. The final figures will be published on 9th June.

An Icelandic Finance Ministry report published on 12th May presents the economic prospects for the period 2009-2014. The collapse of the banking system in the autumn of 2008 has radically transformed the Icelandic economy. The GDP lay at 0.3% in 2008 but is due to contract by 10.8% in 2009. The public deficit reached 34.6% of the GDP in 2008.

The Polish National Statistics Bureau (GUS) announced on 14th May an acceleration in consumer price increases. These rose by 4% in April year-over-year after 3.6% in March and 3.3% in February. Prices in April rose by 0.7% in comparison with March. In 2008 the average annual inflation rate, one of the basic criteria for the adoption of the euro lay at 4.2% in Poland compared with 2.5% in 2007. Poland, and EU member for the last five years hopes to join the euro area in 2012.

The International Monetary Fund said on 12th May that the serious economic slowing that is spreading across Europe may end in the second half of 2010 and be followed by progressive recovery; more measures would be vital especially in the financial sector to foster recovery. In the spring 2009 edition of its report "Regional Economic Outlook: Europe" the IMF notes that this year the decline of economic activity will undoubtedly be worse in the region's emerging countries but that recovery might be slightly more evident there in 2010 than in Europe's more developed countries. With regard to Europe's more developed countries the IMF is forecasting a contraction of 4% in 2009.

The economic crisis struck European ports full on in the first quarter of 2009 with a contraction of 14% in their overall traffic according to figures presented on 14th May at the annual conference of the European Sea Ports Organisation (Espo)in Marseilles. According to figures provided by around fifty ports in the EU it is mostly various merchandise -containers- and loose solid goods (coal,iron minierals and cereals) which have suffered whilst loose liquids (oil, liquid gas) mainly upheld volumes. The container traffic in European ports contracted by 15 to 20% in March (after decreases of between -20 and -25% in January), about as much as in North America (-17.9% and in Asia (-17.4%) stressed Dutch economist Peter de Langen, advisor to the port of Rotterdam.

The Slovenian national statistics bureau (SUSR) announced on 13th May that the inflation rate in Slovakia, a member of the euro area declined to 2.3% in April over one year, ie its lowest level since August 2007 when the figure lay at 1.2%. This figure includes an annual progression of 7.9% in prices with regard to alcoholic drinks and tobacco, housing-electricity-gas. However prices declined by 7.9% in terms of transport, in the wake of a price decrease in the car sector according to the Slovakian office. This downward trend confirms Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico's forecasts for whom entry into the euro area meant a slowing in inflation.

GDP declined by 2.5% in both the euro area and the EU during the first quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities on 15th May. In the fourth quarter of 2008, growth rates were -1.6% in the euro area and -1.5% in the EU. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 4.6% in the euro area and by 4.4% in the EU in the first quarter of 2009. The euro area sank slightly more into recession in the first quarter. This decline is much greater than that of the USA which experienced a 1.6% decline in its GDP in the first quarter after a decline of 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008.

On 15th May the French Economy, Industry and Employment Minister announced that the GDP would contract by around 3% in 2009. Growth in 2008 is forecast to decline to lie at 0.3% in comparison with the 0.7% initially forecast according to INSEE figures. France is therefore in recession with a GDP contraction of 1.2% in the first quarter of 2009 according to INSEE.

Istat (the Italian Statistics Institute) announced that Italy's GDP had decreased by 5.9% in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison with the first quarter of 2008. The decrease in comparison with the previous quarter totals 2.4%. In April inflation increased by 0.2% in comparison with March 2009 and by 1.2% in comparison with April 2008.

The figures published by the Spanish Statistics Institute on 14th May mark the deepening of the recession that has been affecting the country for the last nine months. The Spanish GDP contracted by 1.8% in the first quarter in comparison with the previous period; it has declined by 2.9% over one year.

Germany, Europe's leading economy experienced a worse start to the year than expected, witnessing the highest quarterly decline of its GDP in 40 years. The latter plunged by 3.8% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2008 according to a provisional figure announced on 15th May by the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis).

Austria recorded a 2.8% decline in its GDP in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2008, whilst on an annual basis the decline reached 3.6% said the reference institution Wifo on 15th May.

The Belgian state may participate in the capital of the insurer-bank KBC according to a third state aid plan that mainly comprises guarantees it was announced on 14th May; this came at the same time as a heavy net loss in the first quarter. The principle of this aid was decided on to cover possible losses associated with risky assets that KBC has in its portfolio and with the problems experienced by American insurance company MBIA. In two separate press releases the KBC and the Belgian government did mention however extremely different amounts with regard to the state aid mechanism.

Growth in Greece recorded progress of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison with the same quarter the previous year according to provisional estimates announced the National Statistics Service on 15th May (Esye). According to Esye estimates the GDP contracted by 1.2% in comparison with the previous quarter. In January the government reviewed its 2009 figures downwards to 1.1% in comparison with an initial 2.7% planned for in the State budget whilst the European Commission had reckoned on 0.2%.

The GDP of the Netherlands contracted by 2.8% in the first quarter in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2008, according to an initial estimate by the Central Statistics Office (CBS) published on 15th May. The GDP declined by 4.5% in the first quarter in comparison with the same period one year previously said the CBS.

The Portuguese government acknowledged on 15th May a worsening in the economic crisis and reviewed its forecasts downwards this year with a GDP contracting by 3.4%, a public deficit rising to 5.9% and unemployment at 8.8%. "We are facing a global crisis that is affecting Europe more than Portugal," said Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos during a press conference noting that the decline of the Portuguese economy was "less than the average in the euro area."

According to first estimates by the Statistics Office (CSU) published on 15th May the Czech Republic recorded a 3.4% decline in its GDP in the first quarter in comparison with the same period in 2008 after an annual rise of 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Czech economy has therefore witnessed its worst quarter since the country's independence in 1993 said the CSU.

Romania officially entered recession on 15th May after nine years of growth since the GDP had contracted over the last two quarters thereby confirming the most pessimistic forecasts by analysts. The GDP contracted by 2.6% in the first quarter in comparison with the previous quarter and by 6.4% in comparison with the same period in 2008 said the national statistics institute. The GDP already contracted by 3.4% in the fourth quarter in 2008 in comparison with the previous quarter which confirms entry into recession.

Lithuania (3.2%), Malta (4.7%), Poland (3.9%) and Romania (5.4%) notified that they had budgetary deficits of over 3% of the GDP in 2008. As a consequence the European Commission launched the first stage of the excessive deficit procedure against these Member States on 13th May. Since February procedures have already been launched against France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia and Spain. The European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Joaquin Almunia, announced that he wanted to apply a modified stability and growth pact. Since the reform in 2005 the SGP allows for the inclusion of the present economic situation and for the issue of recomendations with regard to the correction of the excessive deficit.

On 11th May the European Commission adopted a proposal for a directive on air security charges billed to passengers at airports. The aims are to ensure transparency, non-discrimination and consultation of airlines when fixing the level of charges, as well as the cost-relatedness of security charges. It also proposes to establish an independent supervisory authority in each Member State to ensure the application of these principles. The Commission promises more competition between airports and between airlines to achieve the most moderate prices for passengers.

On 14th May the European Commission referred Poland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ)for three different reasons. Firstly it accuses Poland for having ignored a "reasoned opinion" sent by the Commission for non-transposition of EU rules prohibiting gender discrimination in access to and supply of goods and services. Secondly Poland is accused of not having recovered illegal and incompatible state aid from Technologie Buczek and two of its subsidiaries, Huta Buczek and Buczek Automotive in spite of a decision taken by the Commission in 2007. Finally the Commission decided to lodge a complaint against Poland for the application of VAT to cross border passenger transport services provided by buses registered abroad.

On 12th May the European Commission presented its views on how to set fishing possibilities in EU waters for 2010. Given that more than 80% of EU stocks are now overfished, compared with a global average of 28% the Commission is therefore proposing greater flexibility in changing TACs from year to year, to enable more effective recovery measures for overexploited stocks. Hence European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg indicated a 20% reduction in TACs per year for species that are suffering and at least 25% for the most threatened. Conversely for stocks that have recovered well TACs could be increased up to 25% per year.

After years of debate the German Parliament finally adopted a law on 15th May that will strictly control genetic tests on embryos and will prohibit employers and insurance companies from using such tests.

On 14th May the Planck and Herschel satellites were launched together at 15:12 European Continental time by an Ariane 5 launcher from the ESA space pad in Kourou in French Guyana. The two satellits are now integrated to the launcher: the composite achieved measures nearly 11 metres in height and 4.5 meteres in diametre; it weighs around 5.7 tonnes.

On 13th May British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with company heads and young apprentices as the government launched the Future Jobs Fund, to a total of 1 billion pounds and which is designed to create jobs for young people. The creation of these jobs is believed to be Gordon Brown's priority, who called on social enterprises to bid for state aid to create at least 15,000 jobs.

The British Labour Party announced on 16th May that it had temporarily suspended another MP, David Chaytor, whilst it waits for the conclusions of an investigation; the latter is involved in the excessive expenses scandal caused by UK MPs. On 15th May the same punishment was given to another MP and former Labour Minister Elliot Morley. Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown just as the Conservative opposition (Tories) led by David Cameron are in danger of suffering the backlash of this expenses scandal in the upcoming European elections, according to a poll undertaken on 15th May. Voting intentions for the Tories in the 4th June election fell by 9 points in one week from 37% to 28% whilst those for the Gordon Brown's Labour declined by three points from 22% to 19% according to a YouGov poll undertaken amongst 1814 adults and which was published in the tabloid, The Sun.

On 12th May a ministerial meeting of the 47 countries of the Council of Europe worked towards making the work undertaken by European Court of Human Rights easier, since it is now a victim of its success, with nearly 100,000 cases pending. The Committee of Ministers adopted a protocol "14 bis" in Madrid that aims to facilitate the processing of complaints pouring into Strasbourg daily. It stipulates that a single judge can reject complaints that are obviously inadmissable. A 3 judge committee (instead of the present 7) will deal directly with cases that are similar to ones that have already been judged.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 14th May direct foreign investments by the EU in third countries totalled 354 billion euros in 2008 in comparison with 496 billion in 2007, ie a decrease of 28%. The DFI's from the rest of the world into the EU dropped from 400 billion in 2007 down to 173 billion in 2008, ie a decline of 57%. The flow of intra-EU DFI's decreased by 42% in comparison with 2007. Whilst DFI's in the USA, offshore centres and in Canada recorded a sharp decline investments increased in Switzerland as well as in Russia. In 2008 Luxembourg followed by France and the UK were the main investors in third countries.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 15th May the annual inflation rate in the euro area in April 2009 remained stable at 0.6% in comparison with March. The previous year inflation stood at 3.3%. Annual inflation in the EU rose to 1.2% in April 2009, in comparison with 1.3% in March. The previous year it lay at 3.6%.

Werner Weidenfeld and Wolfgang Wessels have published the 11th version of their work "Europa von A bis Z" Taschenbuch der europaïschen Integration - Europe from A-Z: a paperback on European Integration. It is available from Nomos publishing.

The German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) has published a study by Jean-Marc Daniel entitled "Reaktion auf die Krise: die Europäisierung der franzözischen Wirtschaftspolitik" (Reaction to the crisis: the Europeanisation of the French Economic Policy). According to the author France is less affected by the economic and financial crisis than many of its partners: the budgetary deficit is around 5% of the GDP, the number of unemployed is growing less rapidly than in other countries and the French banking system, like that of Italy, appears to be one of the strongest in Europe.

British singer Peter Gabriel and Venezuelan composer-conductor José Antonio Abreu won the Polar Music Prize 2009 for their contribution to the world of music said the organisers on 12th May.

The Culture Festival "Wiener Festwochen" in Vienna is taking place between 8th May and 14th June. The programme includes two modern operas, Brazilian hip-hop, Kosovo theatre and also traditional pieces such as "The Trial" by Kafka or Shakespeare's "Othello" that have been adapted to the 21st century.