The Robert Schuman Foundation and the CERI are organising a seminar on 9th February entitled "The problem of the EU's denomination: how should the EU be represented both as a political and legal entity?" with Olivier Beaud, professor of public law at the University Paris II Pantheon Assas and by Nicolas Jabko, researcher at the CERI.

On 6th March the Icelanders are being called to vote by referendum on the law approved on 31st December by the Althing (Parliament) whereby the Icelandic State commits to providing its guarantee to a loan representing 3.8 billion euros payable over 15 years at a rate of 5.55% and to reimburse the 320,000 clients, notably British and Dutch, of Icesave. The President of the Republic Olafur Ragnar Grimsson decided not to ratify the law in virtue of article 26 of the Icelandic Constitution. The people are therefore being called to decide and answer the question "Do you approve of the law on the Icesave agreement?"

In the forecasts communicated to Brussels on 2nd February the French government said that it committed to reducing the French public deficit (State, social accounts, local communities) by 8.2% of the GDP this year down to 3% in 2013. By then the public debt will have ebbed back to 86.6% of the GDP. The achievement of these goals depends on the return of sustained growth : after 1.4% this year the economy would progress by 2.5% per year as from 2011. In 2009 the defict of the French State lay at 138 billion euros against 56.3 billion the year before, rising sharply under the effects of the crisis which ate into fiscal revenues, especially company tax said the Budget Minister on 5th February.

The Finnish Finance Minister announced on 2nd February that Finland was due to raise its taxes and reduce public spending in order to bring its finances out of the "stalemate" which has taken the country into the worst economic crisis it has ever experienced. According to the minister if nothing is done the country may very well record a public deficit of 1.5% of the GDP in 2015; he is calling for increased productivity in the civil service and an extension of working hours to improve public finances. On 4th February he published an update of his stability programme which all of the euro zone members have to present yearly to the Commission; it presents objectives and goals with regard to the economic policy, notably in terms of the budget and the implementation of these by 2013. At the end of 2008 the economic crisis affected Finland greatly and it experienced a 7.6%. contraction in its growth.

Just as the governor of the Bank of Portugal declared on 2nd February that the reduction of the Portuguese public deficit was a necessity and that it had to take the form of a contraction in public spending and an increase in taxes, the Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates said in an interview granted to the newspaper Liberation that Portugal's situation is no more worrying than that of other European economies. He regretted that the markets just base their analyses on "impressions" and recalled that it was due to an increase in the deficits that his country was one of the first, along with France, to succeed in coming out of the recession in 2009.

The European Central Bank's Council of Governors decided on 4th February to leave its main rates unchanged at 1%. During a press conference afterwards Jean-Claude Trichet, Chair of the ECB stressed that the growing deficits of several euro area members may have negative effects on the euro area' monetary policy. He recalled that it is vital that each member country's stability programme defines clearly the consolidation strategies for the upcoming period and that this should start in 2011 at the latest. He said that the governors approved the public finance recovery plan put forward by Greece and said that the new measures announced on 2nd February by Athens "is a step in the right direction."

The Spanish economy continued to contract in the fourth quarter of 2009 maintaining the country in recession with a quarterly GDP decline of 0.1% said the Bank of Spain on 5th February. In its monthly bulletin in January it said that "the quarterly decline of the GDP was 0.1% (against 0.3% in the previous quarter)". "At the end of the year the GDP had dropped by 3.6% over 2009 the greatest decrease in activity over the last few decades but on a par with the severity of the contraction trends that the world economy is facing."

The Franco-Belgian bank Dexia accepted on 5th February to reduce its balance sheet by a third by 2014 after the sale of assets notably in Spain and Italy to achieve the greenlight from Brussels for state aid which has enabled it to weather the crisis. The chairman of the group's board Jean-Luc Dehaene made this announcement during a press conference in Brussels nearly 16 months after the rescue by the Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments of the group which is specialised in loans to local communities .

On 4th February the Slovenian government adopted a plan to emerge from the crisis aiming to guarantee sustainable development of the economy and to consolidate public finances by 2013. The European Commission asked Slovenia to bring its public deficit below the 3% of the GDP mark by 2013. The budgets adopted forecast a deficit of 5.8% in 2010 and 4.8% in 2011. "The crisis exit plan will focus on economic competitiveness and social cohesion," declared Development Minister Mitja Gaspari.

In an interview with Agence Europe Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security reviewed the five years he has spent at the European Commission. When looking at his successes and disappointments he outlines the new institutional architecture that will emerge from the Lisbon Treaty and mentions future issues such as immigration and police and judicial cooperation.

According to a report published on 4th February by the European Commission Europe has to take immediate action to make up for its competence deficits and offer its citizens better opportunities to succeed on the labour market. The document entitled "New Competence for New Jobs: Act Immediately". The report suggests for targets: encourage employers and citizens to raise new competence; open up on education and training; put forward a better range of competence that are better adapted to the needs of the labour market; improve anticipation of future needs in terms of competence.

The European Commission adopted a decision on 5th February that updates the contract clauses for the transfer of personal data to data intermediaries set up in countries which are not EU members. On the same day the European Commission launched a public consultation about a future agreement between the EU and the USA with regard to the protection of data and the exchange of information.

During her audition on 2nd February Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner designate for Humanitarian Aid promised that Haiti would be her first priority. She promised that "she would be the voice of those who have none". "Haiti is starting from zero. But it is not alone. If I am confirmed as European Commissioner it will be my duty to see that we bring this country the best that the EU can offer." "It must be aid that is not just short term but serve towards the rebuilding of the country and the State," she said. The vote by the European Parliament on the entire college of Commissioners will take place on 9th February.

The Civil Liberties and Justice Commission at the European Parliament voted on 4th February against the so-called SWIFT agreement - the name being taken from a company which organises financial flows between thousands of banks in the world. This agreement would allow the American authorities to receive information about European citizens if they suspect them of terrorist activities. It recommends the European Parliament reject this agreement which was recently extended and which has to be renegotiated for its final form to be adopted in several months time. The commission believes that the guarantees achieved by Brussels with regard to the protection of individual data are inadequate. MEPs will vote on this during the plenary session on 11th February.

The 46th Conference on Security took place in Munich from 5th to 7th February. Discussions notably focused on resource security and on the development of power globally, the new shape of security in Europe put forward by Russia and even the present economic and financial crisis.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble believed that banking secrecy had "had its moment" and that "it had no future" and that included Switzerland as he was interviewed on 5th February by the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. Even though negotiations on the exchange of banking information between Switzerland and Germany were moving slowly forwards he said he hoped they would lead to the Swiss voluntarily delivering information on those who cheat.

On 3rd February the Spanish government delivered a corrected version of its stability programme 2009-2013 to the European Commission. The programme focuses on the sustainability of public finance in which it includes additional protection for pensions: a deferment of the retirement age and an increase in the pension period. The Robert Schuman Foundation has published a paper by Alain Roulleau with regard to the retirement systems in application in Europe.

On 4th February the 12th Franco-German Council of Ministers took place bringing together both French and German ministers with Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During this meeting the Franco-German agenda was adopted in view of 2020 defining the framework and cooperation goals between the two countries for the next decade. This includes 80 proposals mainly in six areas: economy, finance and employment, energy, climate and biodiversity, growth, innovation, research, education and higher education; foreign policy, defence, security; bringing French and German citizens closer together and also the institutional framework.

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alfredo Mantica travelled to Pristina on 1st February. He met the Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci. The aim of the visit was to re-iterate Italy's support of Kosovo's independence and sovereignty. Mr Mantica encouraged the Kosovar leaders to avoid "setting deadlines" and to privilege dialogue with Serbia. Both men also addressed the visa issue.

On 3rd February the British Defence Minister presented his Green Paper on the future of British Defence to the House of Commons. Several strategic questions are to be studied, notably the balance between internal security and foreign commitments, the approach to adopt with regard to foreign commitments, the means linked to the security of the UK and abroad, an improvement in the use of the armed forces to prevent conflict and the enhancement of international stability, reflection on international security and defence relations and finally the integration of the British forces into those of its allies. The document analyses a certain number of potential threats to the UK and looks at what can be learned from the British experience in certain conflicts (Iraq, Afghanistan). It should also be noted that the UK would like greater military cooperation with France.

On 5th February an agreement was signed at Hillsborough Castle between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Irish PM Brian Cowen with regard to the transfer of police and justice powers as part of the peace process. Gordon Brown announced that the effective transfer of power from London to Belfast of police and justice powers will begin as from 12th April - these have been the final obstacles with regard to the implementation of the peace agreements signed in 1998. "We are closing the final chapter of a long and disrupted history and we are opening a new era for Northern Ireland," declared the British Prime Minister.

According to Eurostat figures published on 3rd February in December 2009 in comparison with November 2009 the volume of retail trade sales remained stable in the euro area and decreased by 0.1% in the EU. In November retail trade declined by 0.5% in both areas. In December 2009 in comparison with December 2008 the sales index declined by 1.6% in the euro area and by 1% in the EU. In comparison with 2008 the average volume of retail sales index declined by 2.3% in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU in 2009.

The German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP) has published a study by Maria Davydchyk and Marie-Lena May entitled "Die Gunst der Stunde nutzen: Chancen für eine Annäherung zwischen Belarus und der EU (Taking advantage of the Moment: the possibilities of Belarus and the EU drawing closer together). Belarus is changing: because of the economic crisis the State is in deep trouble; in addition to this relations between Aleksander Lukashenko's regime and Russia have cooled again. Belarus is being forced to open up in major areas of the economy and society. Before the presidential election in 2011 the EU has a chance of supporting a development in structures and of drawing closer to Belarus. Apart from economic cooperation the EU should establish three poilitical principles: act in a decentralised manner, push for reciprocal change and include Belarus in multilateral European projects instead of continuing to isolate the country.

The Danish International Studies Institute has published research by Pertti Joenniemii entitled "The Georgian-Russian Conflict: a Turning Point?" The author believes that the conflict was not a real turning point but that it rather led to the emergence of a tacit agreement between the USA and Russia whilst the EU has to face major difficulties as it tries to stay on course for rapprochement. Although the conflict shook the entire world it was quite unexpected and repercussions continue to have effect.

Just as the transposition deadline came on 28th December 2009 only one third of the 27 Member States are said to have fully set in place measures included in the "Services" directive which dates back to 12th December 2006. Eurochambers, the association of European Chambers of Commerce, demonstrates this in a report published on 2nd February. According to the association legal or operational problems have delayed implementation in several States notably with regard to the "Single Points of Contact" for service providers.

The Genshagen Foundation has published its first issue of the "Genshagener Papiere" series on the theme of "A new agenda for Franco-German Relations". It looks into the political recommendations made during a working seminar in October 2009 to focus more on the Franco-German relation as a means to settling real problems. The main themes are: economic and financial policy, social policy, energy and climate policy and the enlargement and neigbourhood policy. This publication is written both in French and German.

From 11th to 21st February the 60th Berlinale, the Film Festival of Berlin, will take place. Around 400 films have been chosen - 20 are running for the Golden Bear awards. The star this year is "Shutter Island" by Martin Scorcese and "The Ghost Write" by Roman Polanski.

On 6th February the Carneval of Venice and that of Rome started and will last until 16th February. In Venice a mysterious, baroque population disguised in strange masks and colourful costumes haunts the streets of the Dowager's City.