The first round of the Albanian presidential election is due to take place on 20th June next. The President of the Republic of Albania is elected for five years by 140 members of the Assembly. His term in office is renewable only once. The position of Head of State is mainly an honorary one. The President ensures that the Constitution is respected and is in charge of the armed forces. Five rounds of voting are planned for by the Albanian Constitution in the election of the President of the Republic. To be elected a candidate has to win at least three fifths of the votes of the members of the Assembly ie 84 votes. The Democratic Party (DP) led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha has 78 seats and must therefore find a consensus with other parties. The outgoing President Alfred Spiro Moisiu's term in office comes to an end on 24th July next.

In the future criminal records in EU member states will be circulated on an electronic network. On 13th June Justice Ministers came to an agreement on pooling the content of their national criminal records to enable a better exchange of information on sentences given to suspects. This framework decision makes its obligatory for all European countries to communicate sentences given to nationals from a Member State to the Member State involved.

Organic products will now bear a European seal mentioning quality standards which will apply as from 2009. The 27 Member States agreed on new regulation that strengthens attribution rules and makes the European organic seal obligatory on labels. The share of organic farming more than doubled between 1998 and 2005 in the EU rising from 1.8% to 3.9%.

On 11th June the Council of Agricultural Ministers adopted a regulation that will replace a total of 50 regulations in the area of Community legislation relative to the agricultural market. The number of articles involved was reduced from 600 to 200. "This as well as the simplification and streamlining of the existing market instruments will render the use and application of provisions easier in the future for users in the business community and administration," declared German Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister, Horst Seehofer. The goal is to "contribute to the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy."

In the future, conditions of probation imposed upon criminal offenders are to be subject to supervision throughout the EU; on 13th June EU Justice Ministers reached agreement on the major cornerstones of a Framework Decision in that regard. The goal of the initiative, put forward jointly by Germany and France, is to improve cooperation in the cross-border supervision of sentences of probatio-n and alternative sanctions (for example, community service work, providing reparations for damage caused, or participation in social training courses). This will strive to foster the re-socialisation of convicted persons, prevent recidivism, and thereby attain better protection of victims.

On 13th June the new EU military operations centre in Brussels underwent a thorough test with the launch of a mock exercise called "Kriegspiel" whose central theme was the planning of an emergency intervention in Africa. "It is an important day for the European Defence and Security Policy," declared CFSP High Representative Javier Solana.

On 14th June the Employment Committee adopted a report on professional qualifications. When these have been acquired in any Member State they should also be comparable across the EU - and this is to be achieved by 2012. However national authorities will have one year to apply the European Qualification Framework (EQF) that aims to facilitate cross border mobility of workers and students who meet the requirements of the employment market thanks to a common language employed to describe qualification levels.

The Chairman of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet spoke to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on 11th June. He indicated that "upside risks to price stability prevail over the medium term" and called for moderation in wage settlements and also for ongoing close co-operation between banking supervisory authorities. After the quarter point rise in interest rates on 6th June, overall financing conditions were favourable, money and credit growth vigorous and liquidity in the euro area ample. Risks to price stability were notably on the domestic side: "They relate mainly to emerging capacity constraints and, closely related, stronger than expected wage dynamics, which would pose significant upside risks."

On 11th June the Budgets Committe indicated that the European Institute of Technology must be financed adequately but not at the expense of other research priorities. MEPs hope to re-negotiate the financial framework with the Council. MEPs also underlined similar funding problems for the European satellite navigation system, Galileo. "The EIT is a "must" for Parliament and we are keen to find a first-reading agreement", said Budgets Committee Chair Reimer Böge (EPP-ED, DE) after the vote. As far as Galileo is concerned they called on the European Commission to put forward a new funding project.

On 13th June the Commission adopted a communication designed to improve the effectiveness and coherence of humantarian aid. It has invited the EU to work more intensively together so that a consensus can be reached in order to strengthen its collective response to humanitarian crises. This involves promoting the full respect of international humanitarian rights so that humanitarian aid and workers can reach the populations in need.

The negotiations between the EU and the Andean Community for a comprehensive Association Agreement between both regions was launched on 14th June in Tarija (Bolivia) at the 17th meeting of the Presidents of the Andean Community. The Association Agreement is envisaged as a comprehensive agreement and its objective is to enhance the political dialogue between both regions, to intensify and improve their co-operation in a vast variety of areas and to enhance and facilitate bi-regional trade and investments. The European Commission will negotiate the agreement on behalf of the EU.

"Although the budgetary situation has improved remarkably in the last few years, it is quite clear that most Member States need to improve their track record in implementing their budgetary targets," declared Joaquín Almunia, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioneron 13th June. Under current policies, only 10 of the 27 EU countries will have reached their medium-term budgetary objective (MTO) in 2008 despite three consecutive years of above-trend economic growth. To improve the functioning of the 'preventive arm' of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), therefore, the Commission has put forward a number of proposals which build on the 2005 SGP reform. They deal with the way governments formulate and implement their budgetary strategies over the medium term and the strengthening of surveillance and coordination of economic and budgetary policies at EU level. The aim is to achieve sustainable budgetary policies that contribute to higher growth and employment.

On 14th June just one week before the European Council dedicated to institutional reform Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, former chair of the Convention on the Future of Europe launched his blog : vge-europe.eu. In his introduction, "Simplify or mutilate the constitutional treaty?" the former Head of the French State explains what a simplified treaty is and expresses his opposition to the mutilation of the treaty.

Just one week before the European Council, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, along with Bernard Kouchner, Foreign and European Affairs Minister and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, Secretary of State for European Affairs travelled to Poland on 14th June to try and persuade Poland to join the project for a simplified treaty. Polish President Lech Kaczynski believes that an agreement on institutional reform is possible. Although he said he was confident about the possibility of coming to an agreement which satisfied all Member States, he recalled that Poland would be against any proposal that led to a decrease in the number of votes it had in the Council.

Spanish head of government, José Luis Zapatero travelled to Berlin on 15th June to talk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the means to employ to come to an agreement on the institutional treaty. "We can do it," he believes. "We have been talking for too long about the treaty, I believe that the citizens now want us to come to an agreement which will then be followed by work in other areas."

On 14th June Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor delivered a report to her 26 partners on the present state of play in the discussion over the ratification process of the constitutional treaty which indicates that "there is now general wish to settle the issue and to move forwards." Just one week before the European Council Germany has listed the most controversial points in the Constitutional Treaty which include the Union's symbols, the primacy of community law, the integration of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the role of National Parliaments as well as the distribution of competences. However the document makes no mention of claims relative to the upkeep of the present voting system in the Council and the limits made on decisions taken by a qualified majority.

The President of the Spanish Council, José Luis Zapatero, travelled to Poland on 15th June to try and calm the tension which arose after the recent declarations made by Polish leaders stating that Poland was prepared to die in order to impose its views on the future European treaty. He notably tried to convince the Polish leaders to abandon their proposal with regard to qualified majority voting, the basis of which in their eyes, should be established on the square root of a country's population and not on the population itself.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende met on 16th June and revealed that they "agreed in the main" on "a rapid solution to the stalemate that had arisen over the European institutions." They "favour a solution in a simplified treaty that would not be a European constitution (...) and agree on the need to preserve the main moves forward in the institutions planned for by the constitution notably the strengthening of the role of the national parliaments in the control of subsidiarity, double majority and the extension of the range of the qualified majority."

On 15th June the Polish Parliament adopted a declaration of support for the hard position taken by the Conservative Kaczynski twins in power on the European Treaty (317 MPs in favour, 35 against and 23 abstentions). "The Diet is convinced that the new European treaty should be a compromise that will strengthen the EU and make it more effective and that it will ensure that Poland has a major position, in line with its potential," declared MPs. This declaration, submitted by the main opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO) demands that the voting system in European institutions will be based on the square root of the number of inhabitants of each country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel who received President Lech Kaczinski on 16th June confirmed that the "divergence of opinion" between Poland and the German Presidency of the EU continued.

The UK will not submit the European Treaty that might result from the European Council on 21st and 22nd June to referendum. Tony Blair who is leaving his post on 27th June supports the idea of a simplified European treaty rather than that of a revised Constitution.

Nearly 17 years after the German Reunification the Bundestag voted on 13th June in favour of a monthly 250 euro pension for those people who spent at least six months in prison in the former GDR as political prisoners, if their income is modest. The opposition parties and victims' associations criticised this social clause quite heavily. In order to receive this sum the former victim must have an income below 1035 euros per month if they are single and under 1380 for married couples. Contrary to the initial project normal pensions are not part of the calculation of income.

On 12th June the European Commission validated the strategy selected by the French authorities for the Cohesion Policy 2007-2013. The National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) includes priorities, indicative annual allocations and the list of operational programmes. The NSRF also details how the structural funds are to be used (around 13.5 billion euros) to stimulte growth and job creation in French regions over the next seven years.

The UMP won an absolute majority in the general elections on 17th June, clinching 318 seats out of the 577 in the National Assembly. In all the presidential majority comprises 341 MPs. The PS increased its number of seats with 186 MPs versus 149 in 2002. In all the left has 228 MPs. MoDem and the Greens each have 4 seats. The participation rate remained low in the second round, with the abstention rate rising to 40% a record under the V Republic in an election such as this. Since Alain Juppé was not re-elected - he subsequently resigned - the government will be re-organised and completed with the entry of new secretaries of State.

France is moving forwards with regard to female representation in Parliament since 107 women, in comparison with the previous 76, were elected on 10th and 17th June. Amongst these are 61 MPs on the left, 49 of whom belong to the PS and 46 on the right, 45 of whom belong to the UMP. The PS put forward 45.5% of women, the MoDem, 36.9%, the UMP 26%. Women only comprised 13.1% of the outgoing Assembly; they will now constitute 18.54%. Although France is improving its rank within the EU, moving up from 25th to 18th place, it is still below the European average of 23.74% and lags behind in the world ranking.

According to Eurostat figures published on 14th June the annual inflation rate in May 2007 rose to 1.9% in the Euro Zone and to 2.1% in the EU. In May 2007 the monthly inflation rate rose to 0.2% in the Euro Zone and to 0.3% in the EU.

According to provisional estimates published by Eurostat on 13th June the number of people in employment in the euro area rose by 0.4% (533 000 persons) during the first quarter of 2007. During the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 grew by 0.3% (612 000 persons). In the fourth quarter of 2006, growth rates were +0.3% in the euro area and +0.2% in the EU27. Eurostat estimates that, in the first quarter of 2007, 220.4 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 141.6 million were in the euro area.

During Green Week, Eurostat published on 12th June a report on organic farming in the EU. In 2005, the organic area made up 3.9% of the total utilised agricultural area. The highest proportions of organic area were recorded in Austria (11.0%), Italy (8.4%), the Czech Republic and Greece (both 7.2%) and the lowest in Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%). In the EU25 in 2005, 6.1 million hectares of land were used as organic areas. Between 1998 and 2005 the proportion of organic area in the total utilised agricultural area increased from 1.8% in 1998 to 4.1%. In 2005 1.6% of all farming enterprises in the EU were organic.

According to first estimates for April 2007 published by Eurostat on 15th June the euro area trade balance with the rest of the world in April 2007 gave a 1.8 bn euro surplus, compared with -2.7 bn in April 2006. The March 2007 balance was +7.6 bn, compared with +0.4 bn in March 2006. In April 2007 compared with March 2007, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.6% and imports by 2.2%. The first estimate for April 2007 extra-EU27 trade was a deficit of 14.4 bn euro, compared with -16.5 bn in April 2006. In March 2007, the balance was -10.5 bn, compared with -13.7 bn in March 2006. In April 2007 compared with March 2007, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 1.7%, while imports rose by 0.1%.

Emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases (GHG) decreased on average by 0.8% between 2004 and 2005, according to the annual GHG inventory report of the European Community prepared by the European Environment Agency (EEA), published on 15th June in Copenhagen. In absolute terms, Spain and several other southern countries increased greenhouse gas emissions the most between 2004 and 2005. Amongst the most virtuous countries are Finland which recorded a decrease of 14.6%, Denmark, 6.3%, the Netherlands, 2.9% and Germany 2.3%.

The department of legal studies at the Sentate has just published a comparative study of the legislation governing joint ownership in six countries: Germany, UK, Belgium, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. The study analyses the legislative and regulatory texts that govern joint ownership in order to define joint ownership organisations, then to present respective competences of each of these. The comparison reveals major similarities in the management structures of joint ownership enterprises as well as the operational problems that have recently led to reforms in nearly all countries studied.

In spite of a real improvement in the application of European directives France lags behind in transposing fifteen subjects relative to the environment and might very well be sanctioned to a total of 500 million euros. These are the warnings found in an information report by Fabienne Keller, Senator of Bas-Rhin with regard to the follow-up on community legal cases with regard to the environment approved by the Finance Committee at the Senate on 13th June. Three subjects are particularly urgent: the wilful dissemination of GMO's, nitrate water pollution in Brittany and the processing of urban waste water.

The sales of arms by the 100 main world manufacturers increased by 3% in 2005 over one year, reaching 290 billion dollars with the USA in the lead. This was revealed in a SIPRI report published in Stockholm on 11th June. American companies and those in western Europe mostly dominated this market undertaking 92% of the sales alone in 2005. Forty US manufacturers undertook 63% of the sales in the year reviewed, 32 European manufacturers made 29% of the overall total whilst the sales of nine Russian companies comprised 2%. The remaining 6% were made mainly by companies in Japan, Israel and India.

World military expenditure has risen by 37% in ten years, to reach 1.204 billion dollars in 2006, with the USA easily in the lead according to the annual yearbook published by the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (SIPRI). In comparison with 2005 the total amount increased by 3.5% last year and by 37% in comparison with 1997. Military expenditure in the USA totalled 528.7 billion dollars (395.8 billion euros) in 2006 ie 46% of all military expenditure in the world. Behind the USA comes the UK, France, China and Japan which all counted for between 4% to 5% of the world's military expenditure last year. The fifteen top countries spent 83% of the world budget.