107.2 million Russians aged 18 and over are called to ballot in the general elections on 2nd December next. 6,000 candidates are officially running in the election that in Russia usually serves as a dress rehearsal for the presidential election that takes place immediately afterwards (2nd March 2008). 11 political parties have been given permission to stand in the election. According to a poll by VTsIOM on 27th and 28th October last Unified Russia is due to take 52.7% of the vote (247 seats), the Communist Party 15.6% (82 seats), Fair Russia 9.3% (49 seats) and the Liberal Democrat Party 7.5% (40 seats). Only four parties will therefore be represented in the Duma.

Foreign Ministers of the 37 Euromed member countries (the 27 members of the European Union and 10 Mediterranean partners) met in Lisbon on 5th and 6th November. They re-iterated their "great attachment" to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership that was created in 1995. Although they did not rule out adding other initiatives they did confirm that the Barcelona Process aimed to "play a central role in the European Union's relations with the countries on the Mediterranean Sea."

Gilles de Kerchove, European Counter-Terrorism Co-ordinator declared to the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament that Islamist extremism is still the greatest threat to Europe. He said that to fight effectively against terrorism European Union Member States had to share more information together as they had to with the Union's institutions. He also said that "compensatory measures" were necessary so that counter-terrorism did not restrict individual freedom.

The European Union in 2006 had its best economic performance since 2000 with a growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3% according to the annual report on competitiveness published by teh European Commission on 5th November. Employment growth accelerated for the European Union by 1.6 % in 2006, whilst the average annual rise for the period 2000 until 2005 was 0.5 %. The report also notes that in 2006 productivity grew stronger in the EU (1.5%) than in the US (1.4 %), of which the Commission hopes this will be the start of a long term trend.

On 6th November the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign Security Policy, Javier Solana appointed MEP and former Italian Justice Minister, Pierro Fassino as EU Special Envoy for Burma. Together with the UN Secretary General's Special Advisor his task will be to co-ordinate the Union's activities which aim to promote political, economic and social change in the country.

In a decision taken on 8th November the Court of First Instance of the European Court decided that the Commission was wrong to refuse a beer manufacturer access to the minutes of a meeting including a list of participants. This decision has wide ranging implications for the transparency of lobbying.

On 8th November the Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided that the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 4.00%, 5.00% and 3.00% respectively.

On 8th November the Council of Experts delivered its annual report on the economic situation to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The "Five Wise Men" believe that Germany will undergo a 2.6% growth rate this year and 1.9% in 2008. Although they can see the risk of a slowing in growth in 2008 they have rejected the idea of recession if the reforms undertaken are not questioned. They also believe that domestic consumption is due to grow by 1.8% in 2007 hence taking over from exports as the driver for growth.

On 5th and 6th November the Austrian Home Minister, Günther Platter held talks with his Slovenian and Czech counterparts, Dragutin Mate and Ivan Langer. Agreement Protocols were signed as well as a Co-operation Declaration as part of the Euro 2008. He said he was pleased with the preparation undertaken by both countries in the enlargement of the Schengen area that is to take place on 21st December.

On 7th November the Belgian political crisis deepened after Dutch-speaking MPs from the Home Committee, General Affairs and the Civil Service at the Chamber of Representatives adopted a draft law cutting the electoral constituency of Brussels-Hal-Vilvorde into three separate electoral arrondissements against the will of their French-speaking counterparts. The proposal means that the French minority in this Dutch suburb of Brussels will no longer have the right to vote on the lists of their community. Just as the formation of a new federal government has been floundering for the last 150 days, after the general elections on 10th June, the French-speaking MPs immediately suspended talks that were underway to form a new government coalition.

On 9th November the 17th Ibero-American Summit on inequality was held in Santiago Chile. 22 Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula met together with the UN Secretary General. The Ibero-American Secretary General, Enrique Iglesias called on the region's countries to "promote economic growth without exclusion" whilst the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, stressed the importance of social cohesion, a "fundamental detail in the creation of stable, fair and tolerant societies." The meeting again revealed the differences between the bloc of countries who claim to be left and anti-liberal (Venezuela, Bolivia, Equator, Cuba, Nicaragua), the more traditional left or centre-left countries (Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay) and those who practice liberalism quite freely such as Peru and Colombia.

French president, Nicolas Sarkozy travelled to Washington on 6th and 7th November to meet his American counterpart George Bush. Notably he spoke to Congress on 7th November. When speaking of NATO, just as the Americans would like France to re-enter the integrated military commandment of the Alliance, which it left in 1966 on the initiative of Charles de Gaulle, he said that "the greater the integration of European defence, the greater France's determination will be to take up its full place in NATO."

According to a survey by The Irish Times/TNS published on 5th November support for the European Union has declined by half over the last two years. Only 25% of those interviewed would vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty that is to be signed on 13th December, 13% would vote against and 62% still do not know or are without an opinion. During a similar survey on the draft constitutional treaty undertaken in March 2005, 45% said they would vote yes, 12% no and 42% of those interviewed did not have a specific opinion. On 10th November the government announced that it would undertake a massive information campaign.

Romano Prodi, head of the Italian government received his Romanian counterpart, Calin Tariceanu on 7th November. During a press conference the two heads of government called on the European Commission to "do more with regard to migratory flow and social integration of the Rom community." The Romanian Prime Minister travelled on 7th and 8th November to Italy. This journey came just as both countries are trying to put a stop to xenophobic acts aimed at Romanian immigrants in Italy after the murder of an Italian woman was blamed on a young Romanian of Rom descendency and in the wake of the law adopted by the Prodi government to try and proceed to expulsion en masse.

Latvian Prime Minister, Aigars Kalvitis announced on 7th November that he would hand in the resignation of his government on 5th December after attacks made by the opposition and criticism on the part of his own camp.

Donald Tusk, leader of the Civic Platform, victor in the Polish general elections was officially given the task of forming a new government on 9th November by President Lech Kaczynski. The new Polish Prime Minister immediately announced that "the appointment of my government will take place on Friday next, the delivery of the general policy and, I hope, the vote of confidence on the following Friday."

On 6th November Queen Elizabeth II gave her traditional speech that heralds the opening of parliament. This speech presents the government's work programme led by Prime Minister, Gordon Brown; the priorities are education, housing, healthcare and the environment. The government is planning to make school obligatory until the age of 18, to establish a regulator in terms of healthcare and adopt new laws aiming to reduce C02 emissions. It is promising to build 3 million new homes. Security, citizenship and democracy were mentioned and the government will look for a consensus to modify the anti-terrorist law. Finally Gordon Brown hopes that the Declaration of Rights will be an integral part of a written Constitution. In all 22 laws were announced.

On 30th October Romanian President Traian Basescu announced that a referendum would take place with regard to the voting system. The referendum is planned for 25th November on the same day as the European Elections; it plans for the change over from the proportional list system to the single majority vote method in all future elections.

The centre-left opposition candidate, Danilo Turk won the second round of the presidential election in Slovenia on 11th November; his adversary was former centre-right Prime Minister Alojz Peterle who enjoyed the government's support. After 99.9% of the votes had been counted 55 year-old Danilo Turk 68.26% of the vote versus 31.74% for his rival.

On 7th November Serbia ratified two agreements with the European Union that aim to relax regulations relative to visas and to facilitate the re-admisssion of illegal immigrants. Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement, signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement that is to link Serbia to the European Union. This agreement, the first step towards accession, has to be signed by all European Union members for it to come into force.

In the wake of the various demonstrations calling for his resignation and early general elections Georgian President Mikhail Saakachvili who proclaimed the state of emergency on 7th November also announced on 8th November early presidential elections for 5th January 2008 - initially this was planned for the autumn of 2008. He also said that a referendum would be organised on the date of the general elections which might take place in the spring or the autumn of 2008.

The Duma, the Lower House in the Russian Parliament voted unanimously on 7th November in favour of a suspension of Russian participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty which limits armaments on the continent. Moscow can also withold its participation as from 12th December,since a period of 150 days has to be respected from the moment the other countries have officially been informed of the intentions of the country which is withdrawing.

The World Bank opened its first office in Berlin on 5th November, taking competence relative to Germany that hitherto had been established in Paris back to Germany. Berlin would like "to help the German public understand the work undertaken by the World Bank in terms of development." Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development took advantage of the inauguration of the office to provide support for the World Bank's present strategy.

In September 2007 compared with August 2007, the industrial producer price index rose by 0.4% in both the euro area and the European Union. In August prices increased by 0.1% in both zones. The highest increases were registered in Denmark (+1.7%), Lithuania (+1.2%), Greece and Slovenia (both +1.1%). The only decreases were recorded in Luxembourg (-0.9%) and Portugal (-0.5%). Prices remained unchanged in Ireland.

The European Union Institute for Security Studies has published a report entitled "Lessons learned from European Defence Equipment Programmes" in which the authors draw up recommendations to improve European co-operation in terms of armament.

The Eska publishing house has released a joint paper written under the guidance of Jacques Attali and Christian de Boissieu, entitled "Un Monde en Mouvement. Enjeux et défis". This book is a contribution towards defining the position of France and Europe as globalisation continues.

The Borromeo Collection invites the public to discover work by those who came after Leonardo da Vinci. This work has rarely been displayed to the public and will be on view between 16th November 2007-11th February 2008 at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. Prince Borromeo's collection that was put together between the 15th and 19th centuries includes a number of treasures that have remained hidden since the end of the Second World War in Borromeo family warehouses.