This year the Robert Schuman Foundation is launching an awareness raising campaign on the European citizens' initiative amongst women in Europe with the support of the European Commission, and in partnership with the Institute for Democracy Konstantinos Karamanlis. According to our survey 43% of women think that European policy on women's rights is inadequate. And you what do you think! Answer our survey on women and the European citizens' initiative straight away! We need to know what you think.

According to the national statistics office (INE) which published its six monthly figures on 18th May on the Spanish economy Spain continued its economic recovery over the first quarter 2011 (+0.3%). It is the 3rd consecutive quarter after 7 semesters of economic contraction. This performance is mainly due to progress achieved in exports.

On 17th May European Economy and Finance Ministers approved the decisions taken by the Eurogroup the previous day. They adopted the decision to raise 15.3 billion euros on the markets between 23rd May and 15th July in order to be able to pay aid to Ireland and Portugal. They agreed on the regulations on short-shelling and they progressed in their negotiations with the European Parliament on the so-called "Economic governance" package. With regard to the climate they suggested a tarification system on carbon for international maritime transport and aviation in order to reduce emissions and an increase on the amount of money that is used to help to counter climate change. They welcomed the Commission's proposal to establish a "European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps", that is part of the Lisbon Treaty to enable young Europeans to contribute towards the Union's humanitarian aid work.

In its conclusions on the German economy after its annual consultations with the government from 10th to 17th May the IMF congratulated Germany on its vigorous economic recovery and on the dynamism of its labour market. According to the IMF German growth may reach over 3% in 2011.

On 16th May the IMF announced that it has released 1.58 billion additional euros for Ireland as part of the international rescue plan. The released funds match the second and third part of the 21.8 billion euro loan that the IMF has promised to provide the country over the next three years in exchange for a certain number of reforms. On 18th May the European Commission announced the release of a second instalment of EU aid to Ireland as part of the rescue plan set up last year for this country with the IMF. This new payment of 3 billion euros comes in addition to the 12 billion already paid by the Europeans to date. Last year they promised Dublin loans of up to 45 billion euros over three years.

On 18th May the National Council, the lower chamber in the Austrian Parliament adopted the 2012-2015 financial framework. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said "the government has set clear goals for the next few years, until 2015: reducing deficit, increasing economic growth and reform." She explained that a reduction in public deficit down to 2% of the GDP was planned for the next four years.

On 20th May the IMF announced that it was lending 26 billion euros over three years to Portugal. The IMF decided to pay the first part of 6.1 billion euros immediately and this should settle investor fears over the country's debt situation.

According to a report published by the Dutch statistics institute (Statistics Netherlands) on 19th May unemployment is declining in the Netherlands. It affected 392,000 people in April 2011. The reduction in the unemployed can be explained by a return to work by women and a reduction on unemployment benefits.

The Greek Prime Minister presented a pluri-annual plan of new measures designed to strengthen budgetary balance and reduce the country's debt in the hope of escaping a "reprofiling" of the enormous debt that has been promised by the markets and by some in the euro area. George Papandreou presented a mid-term budgetary plan during the Council of Ministers which is designed to "guarantee" an "end to the crisis" as well as "other major structural changes."

On 19th and 20th May the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso travelled to Serbia and Kosovo. He announced that it was possible for Serbia to achieve the EU candidate status if it cooperated with the ICTY. Moreover on 17th and 18th May the Serb and Kosovar delegations met in Brussels for a fourth round of negotiations.

On 18th May the European Commission published a report assessing the pre-accession economic programmes of five candidate countries (Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Iceland and Turkey) for the period 2011-2013.

On 18th May the European Commission put forward a directive on minimal standards in terms of rights, support and protection of victims of crime when they are in a Member State other than their own. The Commission also put forward a regulation relative to the mutual recognition of protective measures in the civilian area which will add to existing criminal proceedings rules.

As of 25th May 2011 Europeans will enjoy new rights and services with regard to land and mobile lines as well as internet. The new EU regulation on telecommunications that aims to make this sector more competitive and improve services provided to consumers, must be transposed into national legislation by this date. The new regulation includes the consumer's right to change telecommunications operator in one day without having to change telephone number, the right to greater clarity in the services offered and better protection of personal on-line data.

Between 18th to 21st May the President of the European Parliament travelled to Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In Armenia and Azerbaijan he pleaded for a peaceful settlement to the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict suggesting additional European commitment; he stressed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. In Georgia he called for the continuation of reform. He also presented the Eastern Partnership and spoke of concerns over Belarus.

On 23rd May the 27 Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in the Middle East. They notably adopted conclusions on Syria, Libya, Bahrein and Yemen. They decided to implement additional sanctions against Belarus, Iran, Syria and Libya. Finally the Council also discussed the launch of the European External Action Service.

The 27 Culture, Youth and Sports Ministers who met on 19th and 20th May in Brussels came to a political agreement on the establishment of "European heritage labels" attributed to major historical places. They adopted the conclusions that aim to improve the quality of information available to enable the mobility of artists in the EU so that they can integrate the European employment market more easily.

On 17th May the 27 European Agriculture ministers notably endorsed the conclusions of the communication on honeybee health which invites the Commission to step up support and monitor this sector more. Moreover ministers signed agreements relative to the protection of geographical indications with Switzerland and Liechtenstein. This agreement will lead to the mutual recognition of designations of origin (AOC)on many products. This agreement will also cover new designations after validation by the competent mixed committees.

On 22nd May Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy opened the EU office in Benghazi. The office is located in the Tibesti Hotel in central Benghazi which is home to the UN. Ms Ashton met Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the Libyan opposition leader with whom she discussed European support for border security and its reform, the economy, healthcare and education and also its support for civil society. She declared that she was in Benghazi to send an "important signal of our support for the Libyan people. It is the EU putting words into action."

German Defence Minister Thomas de Maizière presented the main outlines of the project to reform the German army on 18th May. The main element in this project is to reduce the number of soldiers by 220,000 at present to a maximum of 185,000 including 170,000 professionals (including reserves) and from between 5,000 to 15,000 volunteers for a year's service. Long term Germany is due to be able to deploy 10,000 soldiers abroad against 7,000 at present. Moreover the number of civilian employees will be reduced.

On 18th and 19th May the European Affairs Minister and Secretary General for Franco-German cooperation Laurent Wauquiez travelled to Berlin to meet his German counterpart Werner Hoyer. European issues of the moment, such as economic governance and the situation in the euro area, migratory issues and the Schengen area were the focus of their discussions. Ministers also spokes of enlargement and the upheavals in the Arab world.

On 13th May the President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-Bak travelled to Paris to meet his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy. Their meeting focused on Franco-Korean relations, the situation on the Korean peninsula as well as on international issues. The two heads of State also spoke of the work undertaken as part of the French Presidency of the G20 and Lee Myung-Bak confirmed his support of the French President's priorities notably those involving financial regulation and the reform of the international monetary system.

On 23rd May in Paris French President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurated the conference devoted to strengthening the coherence of international work by States and organisations to improve the social dimension of globalisation. He was accompanied by the Economy, Finance and Industry Minister, Christine Lagarde, Labour, Employment and Healthcare Minister Xavier Bertrand and the Foreign and European Minister, Laurent Wauquiez. The Labour Ministers or Secretaries of State of the G20 the leaders of international organisations as well as the European commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Laszlo Andor were also present.

The OECD published its "Environment Review" on Norway on 19th May. According to the report Norway's performance in terms of protecting the environment and sustainable development is good. The OECD stresses Norway's leading role in international work to counter climate change, deforestation and illegal fishing, and the doubling in environmental aid since 2006. The report now recommends the writing of viable policies to achieve its ambitious environmental and sustainable development goals, notably with regard to the climate and biodiversity.

According to Eurostat figures published on 16th May the euro area's external trade recorded a surplus of 2.8 billion euros in March 2011 against the rest of the world. It lay at +2.7 billion in March 2010. At the same time estimates on the EU's trade balance in March 2011 reveal a deficit of 9.6 billion euros against -8.9 billion in March 2010.

Friends of Europe has published a report by Yannos Papantoniou, former Greek Finance Minister, entitled "The Lesson's of the Eurozone's Crisis that Should Shape the EU's G20 Stance". The author pleaded for a more proactive attitude on the part of the EU with regard to the G20 notably by offering a permanent secretariat to the G20 together with international rules on banking and in the financial area and by adapting world governance to emerging countries.

The Bruegel Institute has published a study by Guntram Wolff entitled "The Euro Area's Macro-economic Balancing Act". The author stresses the overlapping between the recently created European Systemic Risk Committee (ESRC) and the draft regulation on the prevention of imbalance (that would give powers to the European Commission) and sets out several recommendations to clarify their relations.

On 16th May European Ombudsman P Nikiforos Diamandouros presented his 2010 Report on complaints lodged by European citizens with regard to the EU administration. He recorded 2667 complaints in comparison with 3098 in 2009. He says that this decrease is due to a reduction in complaints outside of his mandate, stressing that there had been an improvement in information available by other means on his site. The report also includes a selection of cases that were examined in 2010. Amongst all of the European countries Spain and Germany registered the highest number of complaints (375 and 349). Moreover Luxembourg, Cyprus and Belgium had the highest number of complaints in proportion to their population.

The FRIDE (the Foundation for International Research and External Dialogue) published a study on 18th May "Pacifism unbound: Why Germany limits EU hard power?" Using Germany's rejection of committing to intervention in Libya as a base journalist Ulrich Speck tries to explain German hostility to "Hard Power" and intervention abroad. He aims to show that the building of an influential European foreign policy should take German pacifism into account.

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is devoting an exhibition to the artists Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957) until 26th June; Kahlo and Rivera were the two central figures of Mexican modernism. The exhibition includes masterpieces from the collection of Jacques and Natasha Gelman.

The German Historic Museum in Berlin is putting on a new exhbition until 31st October entitled "Über Leben - Fotografien von Thomas Hoepker und Daniel Biskup" which was put together on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the construction of the wall (1961) and thirty years after the end of the Soviet Union (1991). Nearly 280 photos explore the events that took place during the building of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist domination in Eastern Europe from various angles. On 11th May German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a speech during the exhibition's inauguration.

Until 3rd July the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome is exhibiting work by the leaders of Italian design - this collection belongs to the Italian Foreign Ministry and has been lent for the very first time to this museum of modern art. Entitled "The Palace of the Farnesina and its Collections" the exhibition provides a means to promote the peninsula's know-how in this area.