Foundation Chairman Jean-Dominique Giuliani has published an editorial on the results of the European Council on 18th and 19th June entitled "European Council: the crab step". He is pleased with the political decisions adopted by the 27 with regard to ongoing issues (Lisbon Treaty and reform of the institutions, immigration policy, fight against the financial crisis), even though in his opinion the European Union is "walking along like a crab rather than taking giant steps!".

Since the Moldovan Parliament failed to elect the President of the Republic before 4th June the outgoing Head of State, Vladimir Voronin (Communist Party) dissolved the Parliament on 15th June and convened early general elections on 29th July next. During the first and second rounds of the election on 20th May and 3rd June one vote was required for Communist Party candidate, Zinaïda Greceanii to be elected President. She won 60 votes whilst the Constitution stipulates that the Head of State has to win at least 3/5ths of the votes ie 61. The Constitution also makes it obligatory for MPs to elect the President of the Republic within the three months following the dissolution of Parliament. The Moldovans are therefore being called to ballot on 29th July to renew the 101 MPs. Four parties were represented in the Parliament elected on 5th April last: the Communist Party, 60 seats, the Liberal Party, 15 MPs, the Liberal Democratic Party, 15 seats and the Alliance Our Moldova, 11 seats.

The Robert Schuman Foundation together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM) is organising a conference on 26th June in Montenegro entitled "Montenegrin Path Towards the EU - Constraints and Challenges" in which Foundation Chairman Jean-Dominique Giuliani is taking part.

On 19th June the 27 Heads of State and government committed to enhancing the supervision of the financial sector after making concessions to the British. Using the Larosière report as a base they approved a draft reform planning for the establishment of three new pan-European authorities in 2010; the latter will be responsible for monitoring the banks, insurance companies and financial markets and will have a say in the control of the financial sector. These three authorities will have "restrictive and proportional decision making powers" enabling them notably to "decide in the event of disagreement between the surveillance authorities" in several States. The European Commission will have put forward legislative proposals "by the start of the autumn 2009" at the latest to establish the new financial surveillance framework in the Union during 2010.

During the European Council, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission received the political support of the 27 European Heads of Staff and government for a second five year term in office. Negotiations are now to take place with the European Parliament on the means employed to appoint the president and the commissioners. European Parliament's plenary session after the June elections will take place as from 14th July. Just before the European Council José Manuel Barrroso revealed the major guidelines to his programme. Amongst the priorities are a Europe "which refuses all types of protectionism but which is clearly determined to protect and promote European interests in the world." He also says "that he really believes in a Europe as a political project built on a strong partnership between Member States and the European Institutions."

The 27 Heads of State and Government recalled the importance of the fight against climate change in view of the future conference in Copenhagen that will take place from 7th to 18th December next. They called on the international community to play its full role in reaching a satisfactory result in Copenhagen. The fight against unemployment is also still a major priority. They committed to enhancing social protection, social cohesion and workers' rights. The European Council reviewed recent events in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta. The 27 promised to step up work to prevent and fight effectively against illegal immigration on the EU's maritime and southern borders in line with the European Immigration and Asylum Pact.

On 17th June the High Committee for a new Financial Architecture, also called the Lamfalussy Committee presented its final report. In the wake of the financial crisis the government decided at the end of 2008 to establish this High Committee for a new Financial Architecture under the chairmanship of Alexandre Lamfalussy. By doing this the government wanted to create clear foundations that would lead to the restoration of confidence in the financial and banking sector. In this report the Committee expressed its total support for the recommendations included in the Larosière report. At this stage it accepts that the integrated model should not be adopted but hopes to strengthen the present cooperative model significantly. At the same time it recommends the establishment of an independent group of expert to assess regularly whether the enhanced cooperative model is producing expected results.

On 17th June the Norwegian Central Bank reduced its main rate by 0.25 points - to an historically record low of 1.25% in an attempt to contain the effects of the recession in the country.

On 16th June the Finnish government published its National Economic Bulletin for 2009. According to the bulletin the economic crisis has peaked. Recovery will be slow and difficult both this year and the next. Forecasts are not very optimistic indeed. Growth is due to contract by 6% and unemployment is due to reach 9%. Public debt lies at 7 million euros at present and public debt is due to grow to 10 million euros.

On 16th June the Latvia Parliament approved 60 votes in favour, 30 against the new fiscal package for 2009/2010. This plan includes new austerity measures notably 20% cuts in civil servants' salaries (notably for government members) and 10% reductions in retirement pensions. This will represent 10% in savings on overall budgetary spending in all, ie 714 million euros. By reducing its budgetary deficit which continues to grow Latvia hopes that the second part of community aid totalling 1.2 billion euro will soon be released.

On 17th June the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) called on Italy to reform once economic recovery has started to reduce the country's enormous debt and to improve its competitiveness. Before the crisis, Italy, whose debt rose to 105.8% of the GDP in 2008 intended to bring it below the 100% mark in 2011. But the world recession made this objective impossible and the government is now forecasting a debt of 118.% of the GDP in 2011. In its economic study on Italy the OECD forecasts a contraction of 5.3% in Italy's GDP in 2009 in comparison with 4.3% previously. However it is counting on recovery in 2010 with growth of 0.4% whilst until now it had been forecasting another year of recession in 2010.

The Federal Statistics Office (Rosstat) announced on 16th June that industrial production in Russia had fallen by 17.1% in May in comparison with the same period in 2008. Over the first five months of the year industrial production declined by 15.4% in comparison with the same period the previous year. Amongst the most affected sectors of industry by the decline in May notably feature the car manufacturing sector (-63.9%), the construction sector with the collapse of cement production by 24.9%, likewise merchandise wagons (-71.9%), according to Rosstat. Natural gas production declined by 28.7% in May over one year whilst that of coal declined by 11.4%. However oil and condensed gas production increased by 1.1%.

On 16th June the governor of the Bank of Spain Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in a speech that presented the bank's annual report that the worst of the economic recession in Spain had probably now passed but that unemployment which is affecting nearly 18% of the population was due to increase. Unemployment lay at 17.36% in the first quarter, and the destruction of jobs was extensive in spite of a reduction in the number of unemployed in May in comparison with April. The Spanish government believed on 19th June that the economy was going to remain in recession at least until the end of 2010 with a GDP contraction of 3.6% in 2009 and 0.3% the following year. The return of growth was due to begin in 2011 with an increase in the GDP of 1.8% then 2.7% in 2012 according to the government. However Mr Ordonez warned of the dangers to growth caused by unemployment.

The Slovakian Central Bank (NBS) announced on 15th June that it was expecting a contraction of 4.2% in the country's GDP in 2009, well below its previous forecast of (-2.4%). The European Central Bank (ECB) is forecasting a contraction of 4.6% in the euro area in 2009 said Ivan Sramko, the NBS governor during a press conference. In his opinion the central bank is expecting the Slovakian GDP to start growing again in 2010 with a rise of 2.4% in its GDP in line with the expected development in foreign demand. The Slovakian economy, which is mainly dependent on the export of cars manufactured by foreign companies that have established over the last decade (Volkswagen Peugeot-Citroën, Kia), is suffeirng an overall drop in demand in this sector. Car production in Slovakia fell by 51.6% in April over one year, after having declined by 30% in March.

The Swiss Economy Minister announced on 17th June that Switzerland had approved a third package of measures to a total of 750 million Swiss francs (497 million euros). The Swiss economy, which is particularly dependent on exports, is due to contract by 2.7% this year and by 0.4% in 2010, according to the latest forecasts by the Secretary of State for the Economy (SECO), which reviewed its forecasts downwards. In spite of a slight improvement in perspectives, employment could suffer, which prompted the government to launch a third package of measures, highlighting "the labour market". In this way the government would like to devote 400 million Swiss francs to the fight against long term unemployment, youth unemployment, and to create incentives for additional training. These measures come in addition to the 200 million devoted to reducing health insurance payments and the 150 million for a reform on VAT.

On 18th June the Social European partners signed a new framework-agreement that increases the length of parental leave in the EU from three to four months per parent and this is applicable to all workers irrespective of the nature of their contract. It is the result of negotiations that have lasted six months and reflects the changes that have occurred in society and the labour market since the signature of the first framework-agreement on parental leave in 1995. "This agreement really addresses one of the main objectives for gender equality and shows the will to find solutions to settle the balance between family and professional life whilst taking into account the diversity of national regulatory frameworks, practices and traditions," declared Vladimir Spidla, European Commissioner for Social Affairs. The Commission must now look into the agreement measures and put forward the implementation of the agreement by a directive.

In a communication released on 18th June the European Commission called for for more transparency and multilateral accountability in the governance of the internet. There are today 1.5 billion internet users worldwide, 300 million of which are in the European Union's 27 Member States. At present, a private US-based body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ), is responsible for coordinating key elements of the internet. The Commission agrees that private companies should continue to take the lead in the day-to-day management of the operation of the internet, as long as they are accountable and independent. The Commission also believes that decisions about the internet, especially those about openness and security, should be taken in a transparent and accountable manner because they affect everyone around the globe. ICANN currently operates under a Joint Project Agreement with the US Department of Commerce which expires on 30th September 2009. In the view of the European Commission, future internet governance arrangements should reflect the key role that the global network has come to play for all countries.

On 17th June the European Commission presented a communication on the future of transport. The aim of this communication is to stimulate debate and to come up with real proposals for the next White Paper on transport planned for 2010. The Communication highlights six major challenges and trends that will shape the future of the transport policy over the next few decades: the ageing population, migration and internal mobility, environmental challenges, the availability of energy resources, urbanisation and globalisation. It is demonstrated that the future European transport policy should foster research into an integrated transport system, that is simple to use and which is based on technology.

On 19th June the European Commission announced aid totalling 10 million euros for Belarus just before the visit on 22nd June in Minsk of External Relations Minister Benita Ferrero Waldner. This envelope will be used to improve the quality and security of foodstuffs in the country 23% of whose territory is still contaminated by fall out after the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in 1986.

Tension with regard to the security of gas supplies between Russia, Ukraine and the EU has not subsided. Russia still believes that Naftogaz's financial situation is a serious threat to its payment capacities of gas that is to be stored for the winter. As for the Ukrainians they are trying to obtain a 4.2 billion dollar loan from the European institutions or from private banks to be able to fund these purchases. The European Commission has brought together its gas coordination group to assess the potential of a crisis and its consequences. The European Council that met on 18th-19th June has said that it is "concerned" about the tension between Russia and Ukraine but said that it is convinced that "both sides will do everything they can to fulfil their commitments to avoid another crisis."

On 16th June the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council analysed developments in bilateral relations. Both sides expressed their interest in continuing negotiations for the conclusion of an Association Agreement for the liberalisation of visas. The EU hopes to strengthen its ties with Ukraine as part of the Eastern Partnership. In view of the upcoming presidential election campaign European representatives recalled the importance of the respect of the election rules.

On 17th June the European Union and Pakistan met in Brussels for their first summit that focused on the fight against terrorism, the strengthening of the Pakistani government and the deepening of trade links. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the president in office of the EU Council, Czech Vaclav Klaus agreed to launch "strategic dialogue on joint commitments for development, education, science and technology, security, the fight against terrorism, the enhancement of democracy and Human Rights". Finally they decided to launch dialogue to strengthen trade relations.

During the 15th meeting of the ministerial troïka between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the EU on 16th June ministers lauded the results achieved during the G20 summit on 2nd April 2009. They are now expecting results of the G8 summit on 6-8th July 2009 which has placed development issues and Africa amongst its priorities. In the perspective of the upcoming G20 summit in September 2009 the EU encouraged ECOWAS to continue its close coordination with the African Union. Finally ministers noted the constant progress made in the implementation of the joint EU-Africa strategy.

On 19th June the EU said it regretted that Russia had placed its veto on the technical renewal of the UN Observation Mission's mandate (UNOMIG). According to the EU the Mission had been an effective means to establishing confidence and an important tool in enhancing stability and security in Georgia as well as across the entire Southern Caucasus. By ending this mission the situation which is already volatile, will be all the more so and is clearly not in the interest of the civilians living in the area of conflict.

On 16th June Germany decided to publish the list of farmers who benefit from European aid, thereby falling in line with European legislation in application since 30th April. It emerges that the main beneficiaries are the major agro-industrial groups. The biggest subsidies were however granted to major farms in East Germany. The list published in Berlin is however incomplete since the rich region of Bavaria (south) where the Agriculture Minister, Ilse Aigner, comes from refused to respond to the EU's demands. Germany has been against the publication of the names of the beneficiaries of this aid for a long time saying that it wanted to clarify whether this affected the respect of private life, but the Agriculture Minister announced mid-May that Berlin would fall in line with this European requirement. The list of structural fund beneficiaries is also available on the internet.

German MPs at the Bundestag gave the greenlight for the construction of a road and rail bridge linking Germany to Denmark over the Fehmarn Strait and the Baltic Sea. This project approved in the night of 18th to 19th June has been criticised by ecologist associations who are notably concerned about the impact building work will have on the strait's ecosystem. The treaty between the two countries planning for the construction of a bridge will not be formally ratified until it has been approved by the Bundesrat, the German upper chamber of Parliament at the beginnin of July. The Danish Parliament ratified it in March. This would be the biggest building work ever undertaken in Northern Europe and one of the most important infrastructure projects at present in Europe itself. The 19km long bridge is due to cost around 5.6 billion euros including 4.4 billion of which is to be paid by Denmark.

On 16th June Italian Economic Development Minister, Claudio Scajola met Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica. Italian investors are prepared to invest up to 5 billion euros in energy and infrastructure projects in Montenegro was well as in the installation of submarine cabling linking Italy to Montenegro. These projects are part of a cooperation programme between the two countries; the Italian government is supporting Montenegro's candidature for the EU.

According to figures published on 19th June by the Italian Statistics Institute (Istat) the unemployment rate rose to 7.3% of the working population in the first quarter of 2009, its highest level in three years. In the fourth quarter of 2008 the unemployment rate rose to 7%; this was according to a revised figure delivered by Istat that previously announced 6.9%. In gross figures unemployment lay at 7.9% in the first quarter of 2009 in comparison with 7.1% in the first quarter of 2008. The number people looking for work was 1,982 million at the end of the first quarter of 2009, a rise of 221,000 over one year. Young people were particularly penalised in the first quarter of 2009 with the cancellation of 154,000 fixed term contracts.

According to figures published on 17th June by the National Statistics Office (NSO) the unemployment rate and according to the International Labour Office, rose by 7.2% over three months ending in April - a rise of 0.7 points in comparison with the previous quarter and by 1.9 points in comparison with the previous year. It has therefore risen to a new peak high since the second quarter of 1997. The number of unemployed, still according to the ILO, reached 2,26 million over that period, a rise of 232,000 in comparison with the previous three months and 605,000 in comparison with the previous year. According to national data the number of unemployed rose to 1.54 million in May ie a rate of 4.8% in comparison with 4.7% in April and 2.6% a year earlier, said the NSO. This is less than forecast by the economists of the Calyon Bank which reckoned on a sharp increase - according to ILO estimates reaching 7.3%. Moreover the monthly rise in the number of unemployed in the national sense of the term (39,300) was the lowest recorded in ten months, and is clearly lower than what was expected (60,500).

The Swedish Statistics Office published employment figures on 18th June. Between May 2008 and May 2009 the number of employed declined by 107,000 people. This represents a rise in unemployment of 3.1% which now lies at 9%. The trend is affecting both the public and private sectors. The worst affected age group by this decline in the labour market are the 15-24 year olds. Indeed the level of unemployment in this age group increased by 9.4% over the same period and now lies at nearly 30%.

A summit on Central Europe opened on 18th June in Novi Sad with the participation of 14 heads of state. The meeting that was baptised "3E-the challenge" was devoted to enhanced cooperation between 14 countries (Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine) in the areas of economy and energy and with regard to EU enlargement issues. Serb chair, Boris Tadic suggested the Western Balkan countries should undertake joint work in the energy area to accelerate the region's accession to the EU.

According to Eurostat figures published on 16th June the annual inflation rate in the euro area lay at 0% in May 2009 in comparison with 0.6% the previous month. In May 2008 the rate was 3.7%. In the EU inflation rose to 0.7% in May 2009 in comparison with 1.3% in April. A year ago inflation lay at 4%. This historical low mainly results from a decline in energy prices.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 17th June the first estimate for the euro area trade balance with the rest of the world in April 2009 gave a 2.7 billion euro surplus, compared with +2.2 billion in April 2008. The March 2009 balance was +1.8 billion. The first estimate for the April 2009 extra- EU trade balance was a deficit of 7.8 billion euro, compared with -14.9 billion in April 2008. In March 2009 the balance was -9.3 billion. Moreover the trade surplus of the EU with the USA dropped by 16.4 billion in the first quarter of 2008 to 5.7 billion in the first quarter of 2009. In parallel to this the trade deficit with China dropped from -38.5 to -37 billion and with Russia from -18.7 billion to -10.1 billion.

According to Eurostat figures published on 19th June in the EU on average there were 607,000 people in prison in the EU between 2005 and 2007. This is equal to 123 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. The highest rates were seen in Estonia (302), Latvia (293), and Lithuania (232), whilst Slovenia (60), Finland (68) and Denmark (71) revealed the lowest figures.

The Center for European Reform has just published a study entitled "Obama, Russia and Europe". The author, Tomas Valasek, believes that the American President's scepticism with regard to anti-missile defence and NATO's enlargement is rather more linked to low missile interceptor performance and the political unrest in Ukraine and Georgia.

The Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies has just published a report entitled "Climate Change and Energy Security in Europe: Policy Integration and its Limits". Camilla Adelle, Marc Pallemaerts and Joana Chiavari look into the EU's progress in terms of the integration of its climate and energy policies and stress the areas that require additional work. Particular attention is given to possible synergy and possible discussions between climate and energy policies.

The European Policy Centre (EPC) published a working document on 17th June entitled "The Balkans in Europe: containment or transformation? Twelve ideas for Action". The authors call on the EU to show that it wants to work with the Balkan states.

Unicomm publishing has released a book by Philippe Esper, Christian de Boissieu, Bernard Bigot, Michel Scheller and Yves-Thibault de Silguy entitled "Eurodéfense, pour une relance d'une Europe de la Défense"(Eurodefence, for a revival of European defence). The authors show that Europe can only play a role in the 21st century in the world if European civilisations are able to build their security and defence together. It is up to France to start, within this group of countries, "that want and can do it", constructive thought into a security and defence project taking inspiration from the example of the euro in terms of currency. The work is prefaced by Romano Prodi.

The new Hermitage building, an extension of the museum with the same name in Saint-Petersburg opened on 19th June in Amsterdam with an exhibition on the Russian court in the 19th century with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in attendance. The Amsterdam Ermitage is now established in the Amstelhof, a 17th building next to the location it occupied since its creation in 2004.

Berlin is concentraing on Surrealism and abstract Expressionism as it welcomes 180 works of art from the famous modern art collection owned by the Berlin couple Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch to the "Neue Nationagalerie" for the first time from 19th June to 22nd November. Entitled "Bilderträume" (Picture Dreams) and presented at the Neue Nationalgalerie, the "Pietzsch" exhibition is, in the eyes of the organisers, a major opportunity to turn the gallery into a place that is devoted to 20th century art. The exhibition pays tribute to the German sculptor and painter by devoting the first room entirely to him. Then come couples of artists such as Tanguy and Dali, Magritte and Delvaux, Miro and Calder ... all of this is enriched with documentary photos taken by the major names of the time, Man Ray and Brassaï.