On 18th April last British Prime Minister Theresa May (Conservative Party) took everyone by surprise as she announced that there would be a snap election (3 years before the planned date) on 8th June. Theresa May took over from David Cameron without passing via the ballot box and hopes to strengthen her parliamentary majority on the eve of the Brexit. The situation is favourable to the Tories who hold a significant lead over their Labour rivals in all the polls. Just three weeks before the general elections, victory for the Conservatives seems guaranteed. The only question that remains is how wide the margin will be.

The Foundation's Chairman, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, has published "For a few stars more ... which European policy for France?" An enlightening reach after the appointment of the French president in order to understand what President Emmanuel Macron might do.

On 10th May the Commission published its final report on the sectoral inquiry into e-commerce.

According to a communiqué released by the European Parliament on 12th May the EU and the British government should first negotiate an agreement over the situation and the rights of their citizens as a matter urgency, before starting any other talks over the Brexit.

The 28 Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers approved new rules on 11th May regarding the protection of fishing resources and the protection of marine ecosystems which define how, where and when fishermen can exercise their profession. They also exchanged views about the MedFish4Ever declaration and the conference on the ocean that will take place in New York from 5th to 9th June 2017 in New York.

On the occasion of Europe Day on 9th May the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini re-asserted the EU's commitment to multilateralism, stressing that no State can face the present world crises alone.

On 10th May the Court of Justice delivered a decision establishing that a "citizen from a non-EU country, can in virtue of his status as parent of a minor that has European citizenship, rely on the derived right to residency in the Union."

The German Statistics Institute Destatis published further data regarding the trade surplus in Germany on 9th May which totalled 25.4 billion € in March.

Austrian Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner, head of the People's Party (ÖVP) announced on 10th May that he was resigning from his political office. On 14th he was replaced as ÖVP head by Sebastien Kurz, the Foreign Affairs Minister. A snap election may now be organised.

On 10th May the Bulgarian government announced that it had put MEP Mariya Gabriel forward as the country's representative at the European Commission after the resignation of Kristalina Georgieva at the end of 2016 as Vice-President responsible for the Budget

On 14th May Emmanuel Macron officially became the 8th President of the Republic. Taking over from François Hollande, he was invested at the Elysée. On 15th May he will be travelling to Germany to meet the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Greece started 2017 with a GDP contraction after 2016 passed by without any growth at all, announced the statistics authorities Elstat on 15th May, just days after the approval of a new series of austerity measures. The GDP contract by 0.1% in the first quarter in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2016 and by 0.5% in comparison with the first quarter of 2016 said Elstat.

On 11th May during a speech delivered at the Irish Parliament in Dublin the Brexit negotiator for the EU Michel Barnier called for "non-aggressive" negotiations with London so that the EU and the UK can maintain "strong relations".

The meeting of the G7 Finance Ministers and the governors of the central banks met on 12th and 13th May in Bari to discuss cybersecurity and the fight to counter the financing of terrorism.

The Gemini windfarm in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands celebrated its opening on 8th May. It is one of the biggest offshore farms and will provide energy for one and a half million people.

The Kosovar parliament brought down the government on 10th May as it adopted a motion of censure thereby leading to a snap election. The two main parties in the coalition in office have not agreed over the ratification of an agreement over the definition of the border with Montenegro, a condition for visa exemptions with the EU.

On 11th May the EU gave the greenlight for the visa-free entry of Ukrainian citizens into its territory, for stays of under three months, a measure that has been much awaited in Ukraine.

Switzerland announced on 10th May that it was to limit access to its labour market for one year to Romanian and Bulgarian citizens quoting the triggering of the "safeguard clause" provided for in its relations with the EU. On 11th it published a report on the implementation of support measures to the free movement of people between Switzerland and the EU in 2016.

In 2016 63,300 asylum seekers asking for international protection in the EU's Member States were deemed to be unaccompanied minors, a number that is one third less than in 2015 but still nearly five times higher than the national average noted over the period 2008-2013 (around 12,000 per year).

On 9th May the CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research) presented a new linear accelerator (Linac 4). It is due to feed the CERN accelerator complex with particle beams of higher energy. It took ten years to build.

From 18th to 20th May the town centre of Cerkno in Slovenia will be moving to the rhythm of jazz on the occasion of its annual music festival.