The Robert Schuman Foundation and the Senate are organising a seminar entitled "Going Nuclear in the Middle East" at the Senate on 28th and 29th January. The programme focuses on the various issues at stake such as the chances of dialogue with Iran, the reconstruction of Iraq, the future of the Palestinian People, the situation of Al-Qaeda and the European Middle East Policy. This follows a report written by Jean François-Poncet and Monique Cerisier ben Guiga on "Going Nuclear in the Middle East".

The Chairman of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani is taking part in a seminar organised by the Centre Européen de Droit et d'Economie at the ESSEC on Thursday 28th January in Paris. He will be speaking at a round table "Which European policy in the strategic sectors?"

Five years after the Orange Revolution the two political enemies, Viktor Yanukovich and Yulia Timoshenko, will face each other in the second round of the presidential election in Ukraine on 7th February next. According to the Central Electoral Commission the Regions' Party leader, Viktor Yanukovich came out ahead after the first round on 17th January with 35.32%, ahead of the present Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko who won 25.05% of the vote. Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko is the main loser with 5.45% of the vote. He came only 5th behind Serguey Tigipko (13.05%) and Arseni Yatsenyuk (6.96%). The battle between rounds will be a tight one.

On 14th January Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg gave a speech to at the London School of Economics on taxation and the Swedish lessons learnt in this area. On 19th January he suggested to his European colleagues the establishment of a tax on banks. With this model which is like the "Financial Crisis Responsiblity Fee", a plan that is being discussed at present by the American government, Anders Borg would like banks to pay for the cost of their pre-crisis activities.

The 27 Finance Ministers, who met on 19th January, spoke of the end of the crisis. Ministers looked at the package of measures that aims to enhance aid between States by the recovery of taxes in the fight against fraud. But the meeting mainly focused on "lapses in statistics, institutions and governance" in the Greek statistics system that was revealed by a recent Eurostat report. The Ministers invited the Greek government to make this issue an absolute priority and have asked the Commission to make proposals in February so that the Greek statistics system meets European requirements.

On 21st January the World Bank published a report with regard to the recovery of the world economy. According to this study recovery will slow with the dissipation of the budgetary support programmes. The World Bank says that the worst is over but that world recovery is still unsteady. It believes that the consequences of the crisis will continue to have effect for the next ten years.

On 21st January the Latvian government received the greenlight from parliament to undertake negotiations with the IMF and the EU to revive the rescue plan for its economy to a total of 7.5 billion euros. The government needed a mandate from MPs to negotiate with the international creditors. Latvia is suffering the worst recession amongst EU Member countries.

The French public deficit (State, social accounts, local communities) reached 7.9% of the GDP in 2009 - a slightly lower figure than the 8.2% expected by the government - said Budget Minister Eric Woerth on 20th January. "We shall stand at 7.9% of the GDP across the entire public domain," ie a difference of "6 billion euros", he said. "It is a lower deficit than forecast even though it is extremely high," he added. At the beginning of the week he already announced that the State deficit would reach record highs of 138 billion euros in 2009 - slightly less that the 141 billion forecast.

The Dutch govenment is to reduce the total remuneration of the members of the board of the ABN Amro bank by 65% - the bank was nationalised in 2008 - the Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos announced on 19th January. "The total package of administrators' remunerations has been decreased by 65%," he said in a letter addressed to the lower chamber of Parliament.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on Portugal on 20th January to implement a credible budgetary recovery plan this year notably advising on keeping check on wages to prevent further decline in its public finances. "Budgetary recovery is vital to prevent any further decline and to maintain hard won credibility," wrote the IMF in its annual report on the Portuguese economy just as Portugal has become the target of ratings agencies who are threatening to downgrade the country because of its debt. According to the IMF the budgetary deficit is due to rise to around 8% of the GDP in 2009 against debt that lies close to 80% of the GDP.

On 19th January the Irish government suggested the establishment of an inquiry into the causes of the crisis that affected the county's main banks and which led to their rescue by the authorities. Prime Minister Brian Cowen said that he would ask one or several renowned experts to write a preliminary report by May and that he would also ask the governor of the Irish Central Bank to look into the role played by the regulation authorities. This work will be used by a inquiry panel that will be set up in June and which will deliver its conclusions at the end of the year he said.

The President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy met Cypriot President Demetris Christofias on 21st January. With regard to the island's reunification the Cypriot President informed Mr Van Rompuy of the progress made in the negotiations and his commitment in support of a rapid settlement to the issue. Herman Van Rompuy stressed the importance of settling the dispute for the stability of Europe.

On 19th January the European Commission approved the national programmes designed to encourage the consumption of milk and milk products. These programmes funded to a total of 17.9 million euros by the Community budget are part of the measures which the Commission has taken to support this sector that has been particularly affected by the crisis. Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development said she was pleased with the progress achieved over the last few months and said she was confident about the positive impact these programmes will have on the milk market.

The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla inaugurated the European Year of the Fight Against Poverty and Social Exclusion on 21st January. Mr Barroso presented the fight against poverty as an "integral part of the solutions to emerge from the crisis," and stressed that this was one of the key goals of the EU's 2020 strategy. Mr Spidla said that Europeans are expecting the EU to intervene directly to help Member States face this phenomenon. The aim of the European Year 2010 is to raise awareness and mobilise public authorities and social partners together with the citizens themselves. 17 million euros will be attributed to national programmes and the European campaign notably with a competition designed for journalists, an initiative in the artistic area and "two thematic weeks".

Given the failure to implement the action plan for biodiversity 2006 the European Commission presented a communication on 19th January with regard to "options for a European view and goals for diversity beyond 2010". 50% of species and 80% of protected habitats continued to decline in Europe. The Commission is proposing four alternatives which range from reducing the ambitions of previous goals to increasing the Union's contribution, to slowing the world loss of biodiversity. However all of these represent mid-term goals in view of completing a "2050 view" based on the protection of biodiversity, which is not only necessary for human well-being but also for economic prosperity.

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Joaquin Almunia, asked on 19th January, during the European Finance Ministers' meeting that the European Statistics Office - Eurostat- now has the power to check on the data communicated to it by the Member States with regard to their deficit forecasts "if there was reasonable doubt about the reliability of the figures delivered". This will notably be used to avoid situations such as the one produced by Greece (which was the focus of discussion during the Council of Ministers), since it is accused of having minimised the extent of its debt and its public deficit and of having to review its figures upwards. The Commission already put a similar proposal forward in 2004 but the Council opposed it.

On 20th January MEPs discussed the priorities of the rotating Presidency of the Union put forward by the President of the Spanish government José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Uppermost feature economic recovery, the fight against climate change (development of electric cars), the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty (right to citizens' initiative), as well as the fight against domestic violence (with the creation of a European protection mandate), equality between men and women, the establishment of a common energy market to reduce European dependency, the quest for and promotion of e-trade between Member States. The Spanish programme which was warmly approved by the parliamentarians did however suffer some criticism with regard to the risks of increasing public deficit and inadequate measures planned for the fight against climate change and the reform of the international economic system.

On 19th January MEPs asked Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice President of the Commission for the Union to send the promised aid as quickly as possible to Haiti and for it to commit long term to reconstruction. Several of them stressed the need to face poverty by abolishing public debt and by transforming loans into donations and rethinking development policies.

On 20th January MEPs debated the results of the Copenhagen Conference on climate. They said how disappointed they were; in their opinion there had been no restrictive goals set to reduce CO2 emissions and the EU demonstrated that it was incapable of speaking as one. In spite of this MEPs said they were pleased with the financial commitments made to help developing countries in the fight against global warming. The Parliament called on Member States to show greater unity as well as seeking strategic partners, notably amongst emerging countries. MEPs will vote on a resolution on the results of the Copenhagen Conference in a plenary session in February.

On 19th January MEPs expressed their concern with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue and the Human Rights situation in the country. They acknowledged that although the fact that Iran was providing itself with a nuclear weapon comprised a threat for international security the country had the right to produce nuclear energy for civilian ends and sanctions should therefore be accompanied by dialogue with the authorities. The same approach was mentioned in the face of the repression of protest and infringements of fundamental freedom that came to light during the recent elections which witnessed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Although Parliament is quick for condemn the situation firmly several voices were raised in support of more open dialogue with the Iranian government and also with civil society. The European Parliament will vote on a resolution on the situation in Iran during a plenary session in February.

On 20th January MEPs looked into the controversial issue of the mid-term agreement on bank data transfer to the USA (managed by SWIFT) signed on 30th November. They said they were frustrated and irritated for not having been involved earlier and asked that the application of this agreement, planned for February 1st be postponed as long as Parliament has not had its say - on 10th February according to conditions set in the Lisbon Treaty. The new treaty extends its competence to the area of justice and internal affairs and MEPs are determined to ensure that their new power is not reduced down to a "retroactive agreement". They believe that parliamentary control is needed to guarantee that this agreement effectively aids the fight against terrorism without infringing fundamental freedoms and the right to private life.

President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek launched a Twitter account on 21st January thereby becoming the first in his position to use this new means of communication. President Buzek already has a Facebook account with 2,197 fans. Mr Buzek said that it is a "pleasure and a requirement to use all types of communication" because the increasingly influential European Parliament "should have a higher profile". Mr Buzek's first tweet announced that there would be a vote on the investiture of the new European Commission on 9th February.

The auditions of the Commissioners designate continued on 18th and 19th January. Slovakian Maros Sefcovic quelled accusations of anti-Rom racism and showed real competence. The impression made by Italian Antonio Tajani was not so clear since he is accused of not having been precise enough with regard to some subjects. Swede Cecilia Malmstrom showed that she was on the same wave length as Parliament whilst defending a more humane immigration policy although support for the SWIFT agreement was not shared by all MEPs. Finally the Dutch Commissioner designate for the digitial agenda, Neelie Kroes, passed "her second exam" after providing a mitigated impression the week previously. Bulgarian Rumiana Jeleva officially withdrew on 19th January. She will be replaced by Kristalina Georgieva, Vice-President of the World Bank, who will be auditioned on 3rd February. The vote on the Commission will take place on 9th February.

The present situation in Yemen with regard to security, politics and the economy was the focus of a debate on 19th January after a declaration by Catherine Ashton, High Representative for the EU for Foreign Affairs and the Security Policy. Yemen is regularly mentioned as being a training centre for potential Al-Qaeda militants. A suggested resolution will be discussed during the February session.

The head of the Spanish government, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero committed to promoting Palestinian reconciliation and to encouraging a renewal in dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians during this semester. This was the main conclusion of the meeting on 21st January between Mr Zapatero and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad who received the same guarantees. They analysed the present situation in the Near East, the possibilities of re-launching the peace process and the need to work with all players in the region to bring the various Palestinian factions together.

The 27 European Interior Ministers who met on 21st and 22nd January spoke of the fight against terrorism and organised crime. American Secretary for National Security, Janet Napolitano, was a guest at this meeting. Air security was the focus of the discussion. Although no decisions were taken with regard to the installation of body scanners in airports the Ministers invited the Commission to speed up the preparation of the report on the effectiveness of this technology, its effects on health and its accountablity with regard to rights to private life. The issue of sharing passenger data between the EU and the USA and between Member States turned out to be a problem, because of the reticence on the part of the European Parliament. Ministers addressed the issue of the European immigration and border control policy, with the Lisbon Treaty opening the way to greater co-operation in this area.

On 21st January Germany was accused of "discrimination" by the EU Court of Justice because it restricts the possibility of entering into contracts with Polish undertakings in respect of work to be carried out within its territory to German companies only. Germany (together with Austria) is one of the last countries to restrict access to its labour market on the part of citizens from the eight countries admitted into the EU in 2004, a measure that is due to come to an end however in May 2011. The European Commission with Poland's support said that Germany's measures were contrary to the principle of the free circulation of services. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg recalls in its decision that "the free circulation of services implies the the abolition of any discrimination against a service provider by reason of its nationality or the fact that it is established in a Member State other than that in which the service is to be provided".

The German population continued to decline in 2009 said the Federal Statistics Office Destatis on 21st January - according to a partial estimation it is expecting a decline below the 82 million mark. "The number of inhabitants in Germany is due to fall in 2009 in comparison with the previous year. The decline is estimated at around 0.3% of 82 million at the end of 2008 down to 81.7 million at the end of 2009," said Destatis in a press release.

General elections will take place in Hungary on 11th April with a second round set for 25th April said the Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom on 22nd January. The announcement by the Head of State with regard to the elections kicks off the official electoral campaign.

On 18th January the Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker was re-elected for two and a half years as chair of the Eurogroup, the forum of Finance ministers from the euro area - the aim being to enhance the coordination of economic policies of the countries involved. Mr Juncker has chaired this forum since January 2005. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1st December changed how matters are addressed since this forum has now become a formal one.

On 18th January the British government announced a series of measures to promote the aspirations of the young from all social backgrounds and to place social mobility at the heart of its project for economic growth. In doing this it is responding to the final report by the panel Fair Access to the Professions, "Unleashing Aspiration" which puts forward measures to implement most of the 88 recommendations made by the panel. Amongst these measures feature the creation of a national on-line training scheme service and a committee for social mobility and even a guarantee for the brightest 130,000 pupils from low income backgrounds to benefit from structured aid within secondary education.

According to Eurostat figures published on 22nd January, the new industrial orders index increased by 1.6% in November 2009 in comparison with October 2009 in the euro area. The index recorded a decline of 1.9% in October. In the EU new orders rose by 1.8% in November 2009 after having declined by 1.4% in October.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 22nd January the EU's current account with third countries registered a deficit of 27.7 billion euros in the third quarter of 2009 in comparison with a deficit of 73.5 billion in the third quarter of 2008 and a deficit of 49 billion in the second quarter of 2009. The goods account deficit dropped in the third quarter 2009 in comparison with the third quarter of 2008 (-19.1 billion euros in comparison with -64.9), just like the income account deficit (-8.6 billion in comparison with -14.2). The service account surplus declined (+16.7 billion in comparison +19.3) and the current transfers deficit increased (-16.7 billion in comparison with -13.7).

The Brookings Institutions has published a study in English by Thierry Chopin and Maxime Lefebvre entitled "Three Phone Numbers for Europe: Will the Lisbon Treaty make the European Union more Effective Abroad?" This study was published in French in November last by the Robert Schuman Foundation in its series "European Issues" : "Après le traité de Lisbonne, l'Union européenne a-t-elle enfin son numéro de téléphone?"

One year after Barack Obama was elected to the White Hose, the European Union's Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) reviews this major event in 2009 with a far-reaching study led by Alvaro de Vasconcelos "The Obama Moment. European and American Perspectives." The authors analyse the impact of Barack Obama's election on trans-Atlantic relations and the dilemmas that radical change in American foreign policy cause for the EU as a global player. The Europeans have every interest for the American foreign policy, that is devoted to multilateralism, to succeed. At the same time this heralds the end of the "European exception" which deprives the Europeans of the firm attitude they had become accustomed to hearing on the part of the USA.

The European survey SHARE (Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) undertaken every two years since 2004 is an international, multidisciplinary operation. The aim is to create a European panel focused on health, and socio-economic issues associated with ageing, a process which will comprise a major stake for European societies in the years to come. "Europe is the oldest continent in demographic terms, the average age is the highest (39) and one European in five is over 60."

From 26th January to 25th April the Versailles Castle is devoting an exhibition to "Versailles photographié 1850-2010". This exhibition brings together 150 shots by well known photographers who turn their attention to the castle: Atget, Man Ray, Lartigue, Doisneau, Cartier Bresson etc ...

The "Escena Contemporanea" Festival organised by Escena Contemporanea until 15th February in Madrid includes over 80 shows by 23 experimental theatre groups: street scenes and modern dance. This project is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

The Film and TV Museum in Berlin inaugurated an exhibition entitled "The Complete Metropolis" on 21st January. It is devoted to the work of Fritz Lang and offers cinema lovers a foretaste of the long version of the film which will be shown on 12th February.