Lithuania, a country of 3.2 million which joined the EU in 2004, will assume its first presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July. Lithuania considers itself one of the most successful countries to overcome the economic and financial crisis and to return to sustained recovery and growth. It is the first Baltic country to take the EU stint.

The European Commission is poised to publish new payments rules covering ‘interchange’ fees, which are charged on card transactions. These could unfairly hit Visa and MasterCard, leaving rivals American Express and Paypal unfair market advantage, says the president of MasterCard Europe.

Young Europeans entering the labour market today have a much harder time than their parents or grandparents. In Greece and Spain where the crisis has cut the jobs the most, there are now more unemployed young people than employed. This casts a dark shadow on the whole society, hope is scarce. Desperation is becoming a norm, writes MEP Tarja Cronberg.