On 19th September from 8:30am to 10am the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising, together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris, a breakfast/debate on the theme of "Perspectives économiques 2008 en France et en Europe." Jean-Paul Betbèze, leading economist at the Crédit Agricole, member of the Economic Analysis Council for the Prime Minsiter and the Scientific Committee of the Foundation, and Christian de Boissieu, delegate Chairman of the Economic Analysis Council for the Prime Minister and Economic Advisor to the Chairman of the CCIP, will lead the debate.

On 20th September the Robert Schuman Foundation is organising a conference together with the Franco-German Relations Programme of the DGAP (Germany Company for Foreign Policy) focussing on the perspectives of France's European policy under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy. The Chairman of the Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani as well as Joachim Bitterlich, former ambassador and Executive Vice President for International Affairs for the Group Veolia Environnement in Paris, will speak at the event.

In spite of the fires Greek voters renewed their confidence in outgoing Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis. His party, New Democracy, won the early elections that took place on 16th September with 41.85% of the vote clinching 152 seats ie the absolute majority in the Vouli (Parliament). His main rival, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) won 38.11% of the vote and 102 seats. The Communist Party (KKE) led by Aleka Papariga won 8.14% of the vote and 22 seats, Radical Left Coalition(Syriza),won 5.03% and 14 seats; the far right Orthodox Popular Alarm (LAOS) led by Giorgos Karadzaferis which is making its debut in parliament won 3.79% and 10 seats.

Last March the Robert Schuman Foundation launched the first edition of a reference work on Europe. It offers an annual overall study of the main issues at stake in Europe. This year it includes an exclusive interview with Angela Merkel. This work, published by Lignes de Repères, is on sale in bookshops.

On 13th September in Lisbon Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates presently at the head of the EU Presidency provided his support to Commissioner Franco Frattini on issues pertaining to immigration. The latter declared that the selection of qualified labour was vital to solve the demographic problems linked to an ageing European population. The aim of the meeting was to find a solution in regulating illegal immigration in Europe.

On 11th September Parliament's two rapporteurs - French EPP-ED member Alain Lamassoure and Romanian Socialist Adrian Severin - presented their draft report on the redistribution of seats to Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee. The difficulty lies in reducing the total number of seats that to 750 and yet guarantee the balance between representation of the population and the number of MEPs per country. This redistribution is based on the principle of "degressive proportionality" which is explained in the report. This project will be discussed in the plenary session of Parliament on 10th and 11th October next. The Robert Schuman Foundation has also made suggestions on how the seats should be redistributed.

Based on an update for the seven largest Member States in the European Union published on 11th September, the Commission forecasts economic growth in 2007 at 2.8% in the EU and 2.5% in the euro area. This represents a downward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared with the spring forecast. On the inflation front, consumer prices in 2007 are expected to increase by 2.2% in the EU and 2.0% in the euro area (up by 0.1 pp. compared with the spring) as higher commodity prices take their toll. On 12th September the euro achieved a new record high of 1.3910 dollars.

On 13th September the European Commission proposed to set at 0% the obligatory set-aside rate for autumn 2007 and spring 2008 sowings, in response to the increasingly tight situation on the cereals market. This will also address the issue of how to retain the environmental benefits which set-aside has brought. Setting the rate at zero does not oblige farmers to cultivate all their land. They can continue with voluntary set-aside and apply environmental schemes. On 14th September European Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer presented what the CAP might look like in the future.

With 1.4 billion euros allocated to 550 projects in the field of nanosciences and nanotechnology, the EU's 6th Research Framework Programme accounts for one-third of total public funding for nanotechnology and is the world's largest single funding agency worldwide for this exciting field.

The European Commission decided on 13th September not to raise any objections under Community state aid rules regarding the financial aid to be provided by the French Industrial Innovation Agency to two research and development programmes, "NanoSmart" and "HOMES". The NanoSmart programme for the nanotechnology industries is designed to improve the performance of microelectronic and optoelectronic components. The HOMES programme, aimed at increasing energy efficiency in buildings, brings together Schneider Electric and 15 other enterprises and research centres. The state aid granted is 80 million euros for NanoSmart and 39 euros million for HOMES.

The European Mobility Week that is taking place between 16th and 22nd September suggests new activities aiming to promote "sustainable" mobility. Over 1300 towns are taking part in the event. The aim of this week is to present citizens with alternatives to the car as modes of transport. The highlight of the week will be on 22nd September, the "town without my car" day.

In a decision taken on 17th September the Court of Justice upheld the European Commission's decision which said that the American company Microsoft held a dominant position on the PC systems markets, notably with regard to the sales of Windows Media Player. Given this abusive dominant position the court confirmed the amount of the fine at 497 million euros. It did however rule out certain details of the decision with regard to the appointment of an independent monitoring trustee which it considered not to have any legal basis in community law.

During a budgetary debate at the Bundestag on 12th September, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that the government intended to strengthen the foundations of the economic recovery so that everyone could take advantage of the present economic situation. Germany's economic results show that the government's strategy according to the motto "Invest, restructure,reform," is bearing fruit. Thanks to the company tax reform and the draft reform on inheritance tax, the government is continuing its work to improve competitiveness and therefore German growth. In addition to that and in order to maintain present economic trends the government is planning to make major investments in areas that are important for the future, notably in training and education, whilst simultaneously consolidating the budget.

On 11th September in Berlin the Environment and Energy Ministers of the 20 countries which use the most energy in the world held a meeting. The conference which focused on the climate intended to provide a new mandate on post-Kyoto modalities at the start of 2013. The meeting led to a joint strategy for the UN conference on the climate which is due to take place in Bali in December next.

On 11th September during the Rennes Agricultural Show, French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated that he wanted the Common Agricultural Policy that is due to come to an end in 2013 to be modernised. In his opinion the CAP must meet four objectives: it must "ensure the independence and security of foodstuffs in Europe," "contribute to the equilibrium of the world's food production," "safeguard balance in rural areas," "participate in the fight against global warming and the improvement of the environment." He declared that reforms were to be undertaken under the French Presidency of the EU in the second semester of 2008.

Following the public report by the State Council dedicated to the administration of France and the EU, the latter and the Institute for Political Studies in Paris are organising a day of work on "National administrations and the EU" on 12th October.

The debate on France re-joining NATO's integrated military structures was tabled again at the 5th Summer Defence Conference 11th-12th September in Toulouse. On 30th July the President of the French Republic convened a Committee whose responsibility it will be to write a White Paper on national defence and security. It will be chaired by Jean-Claude Nallet, State Counsellor. The White Paper, whose publication is planned for March 2008, will settle the debate just a few weeks before the Atlantic Alliance Summit planned for the spring of 2008 in Bucharest. Apart from the reform of defence the themes of dissuasion, prevention, protection and projections for the armed forces of 2025 were addressed.

On 12th and 13th September the Serb President Boris Tadic and his government successively called on the Serbs of Kosovo to boycott the general elections planned for 17th November since they believe them to be "counter productive". Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica clearly said that he would not accept a solution for Kosovo if it was not found by the UN.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 12th September in July 2007 compared with June 2007, seasonally adjusted industrial production increased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU27. In June production remained stable in the euro area and grew by 0.1% in the EU27. In July 2007 compared with July 2006, industrial production grew by 3.7% in the euro area and by 3.5% in the EU27.

According to Eurostat figures published on 12th September the total hourly labour costs in the euro area rose at an annual rate of 2.5% in nominal terms up to the second quarter of 2007, compared with 2.3% for the previous quarter. In the EU27, the annual rise was 3.2% up to the second quarter of 2007, compared with 3.6% for the previous quarter. The smallest annual increases in hourly labour costs were observed in Germany (1.2%), Sweden (2.3%) and Finland (2.6%). The highest annual rises were registered in Latvia (31.7%), Romania (23.4%), Lithuania (21.6%) and Estonia (18.7%).

According to Eurostat figures published on 13th September the seasonally adjusted number of people employed in the euro area rose by 0.5% (776 000 people) during the second quarter of 2007, according to provisional national accounts. During the same period, the number of persons employed in the EU27 grew also by 0.5% (1 010 000 people). In the first quarter of 2007, growth rates were +0.6% in the euro area and +0.4% in the EU27. Eurostat estimates that, in the second quarter of 2007, 222.1 million men and women were employed in the EU27, of which 142.9 million were in the euro area.

On 12th September the European Commission presented its third annual report on migration and integration. The report analyses the measures taken nationally and on a community level in terms of admission and integration of third country migrants. It finally provides a general overview of the development of policies and helps to assess and strengthen integration measures.

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Pflimlin editors Coprur have published a book on the most fervent supporters of the construction of Europe, "Pierre Pflimlin, Alsatian and European."