Over 6 million Austrians are being called to ballot on 28th September next to renew the 183 members of the Nationalrat, the lower chamber in Parliament. These general elections are taking place two years earlier than planned since the government coalition comprising the Social Democrat Party (SPÖ) and the People's Party (ÖVP) collapsed on 7th July last . The most recent poll by The Marketing and Communication Company, published on 10th September last credits the SPÖ with 30% of the vote, against 27% for the ÖVP. The two major parties are followed by Citizens for Austria (19%), the FPÖ (18%), the Greens (11%) and the BZÖ (6%). The Liberal Forum (LIF) is not due to rise above the obligatory 4% threshold to be represented in the Nationalrat. One third of the electorate say they are undecided. Given the number of parties running in the election (10) and the result of the last elections on 1st October 2006, which saw the SPÖ's victory over the ÖVP, to everyone's surprise– since it had been declared the favourite – the result of the election on 28th September is still a great unknown.

On 18th September the first EU-Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan and Kirghizstan) forum took place in Paris which focussed on security issues. Three major themes were discussed: the terrorist threat, non-proliferation, the fight against drug and human trafficking and energy and environmental security. The forum led to a joint declaration which confirmed the desire to strengthen political dialogue as well as the exchange of information and analysis to improve the monitoring of possible politico-military dangers. Finally the two sides promised by means of political and economic co-operation to help towards the stability and development of Afghanistan, a major factor in the region's stability.

On 17th September the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering inaugurated the European Parliament's internet TV channel: EuroparlTV. As part of the European elections in June 2009 this TV aims to bring European citizens closer to Europe, notably young people with regard to the work undertaken by parliament. Four chapters (Your Parliament/Your Point of View/Young Europe/Parliament Live) will allow citizens to find information on community policies, consult parliamentary events live and to take part in the debate by expressing their opinion. All of the programmes are translated into the Union's 23 offical languages. EuroparlTV guarantees the plurality of opinion in the European Parliament by taking on board the relative influence of each political group.

The European Innovation and Technology Institute opened for work in Budapest, Hungary on 15th September. The EIT is an EU initiative to stimulate innovation in Europe in order to bring the share of the GDP dedicated to research and development up to 3% - a goal set as part of the Lisbon Strategy.

The 27 Foreign Ministers who met on 15th and 15th September agreed to the dispatch of a civilian European observation mission to Georgia that will be deployed by October 1st. It will comprise at least 200 men. They invited the Commission to prepare the conference of donors that will aim to rebuild and boost the Georgian economy. The Commission's contribution may rise to 500 million euro over 2008-2010. They appointed French diplomat, Pierre Morel as special EU representative for the crisis in Georgia. With regard to Belarus the Council will assess the situation after the general elections on 28th September and the progress made by this country on the road to adopting democratic values and respecting Human Rights. They finally decided to set up a co-ordination cell responsible for supporting monitoring and protection work with regard to piracy off the coasts of Somalia.

In a decision delivered on 16th September on the legal battle between GlaxoSmithKline and Greek medicines' wholesalers the Court of Justice qualified the pharmaceutical company of having abused its dominant position by refusing to honour the "ordinary" orders placed by the wholesalers in order to prevent the parallel export of medicines. The Court has left it up to the national courts to decide what "ordinary" is in terms of an order but says that the differences in national price regulations of medicines cannot be used to justify pharmaceutical companies refusing to honour orders. The European Commission said it was pleased with this decision which confirms the competition policy.

The draft law on German finances for 2009 which came under discussion on 16th and 18th September in the Bundestag; measures include bringing the use of borrowing down to 10.5 billion euros, its lowest level since reunification in 1990. The budget is planned to be balanced by 2011. In 2009 2/3 of the tax incomes will go to consolidating the budget, the remaining third will be used to fund future investments. The German finance minister Peer Steinbrück has excluded any programme to boost the economy which would result, long term, in an increase in taxes. He plans for an increase in investments in education and research, development aid and transport infrastructures. Finally the government has lightened contributions made by private parties and on companies by slightly less than 20 billion euro. During the debate Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted on education: "the republic of education is the best social State."

Negotiations between the Flemish and the Walloons to reform the Belgian state are due to start before the parliamentary return to work mid-October said on 19th September the mediators asked by the King to bring Belgium out of the present political crisis. A "structure of dialogue" bringing together six French speakers and six Flemish speakers is due to "start serious, credible negotiations to bring about an in-depth and balanced reform of the State," said the three mediators in the report to King Albert II; the report was written after two months of consultation.

On 19th September the Spanish government which has been spurred on by the economic crisis and rising unemployment, approved a plan for voluntary return home on the part of immigrants confirming a hardening in approach after years of an almost open-doors policy. The idea is to enable citizens of some countries to be able to receive all of their unemployment benefits in two instalments in exchange for the promise to leave and not return within three years. 40% of the compensation will be delivered when they choose to leave and 60% one month later in their home country. The plan involves immigrants from 19 countries with whom Spain has already signed bilateral agreements in terms of Social Security and other countries who have similar protection systems." Amongst these countries are notably Morocco, and Ecuador to the two biggest suppliers of immigrants in Spain.

On 17th September French President Nicolas Sarkozy received Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico in view of deepening the strategic partnership between France and Slovakia that was launched on 2nd October 2007. On this occasion a joint policy declaration was signed together with a co-operation agreement on civilian nuclear activities. The signature ceremony was followed by a lunch during which the two men spoke of major bilateral issues and the priorities of the French Presidency of the European Union.

President of the Commission José Manuel Barroso gave a speech on 16th September on the theme of "Hungary at the Heart of Enlarged Europe" to the Hungarian National Assembly. He recalled that the Hungarian Parliament had been the first to ratify the Lisbon Treaty and that the Commission thought it extremely important to co-operate with national parliaments. He stressed the positive effects of the two most recent enlargements in terms of creating an area of peace, of enhancing political freedom for which the Hungarians fought in 1956 and improving solidarity with regions in difficulty, notably in Hungary. He finally said he wanted the EU to be a force of justice and stability for its neighbours above and beyond the enlargement.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on 17th September the application of the Lisbon Treaty may be delayed until January 2010. After the Irish "no" to the treaty on 12th June last the Member States hoped that a second consultation in the second half of 2009 could take place before two major dates: the European elections in June and the renewal of the European Commission in November. This is now impossible. "I do not believe that the treaty will be in force in June when the next elections take place," admitted Jean-Claude Juncker adding "if the treaty is to come into force in June 2009 it would have to be ratified by all of the countries before February. This is not realistic." On 18th September the Irish Secretary of State for European Affairs, Dick Roche, did however reject "speculation on a calendar" for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

On 15th September a delegation from the European Commission travelled to Bucharest for a consultation meeting with Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu with regard to the implementation of the National Reform Programme of Romania as part of the Lisbon Strategy. The Romanian Prime Minister said he was optimistic about the economic future of Romania which benefited from a major in-flow of foreign investment, high savings rates on the part of the population and 30 billion euro of European funds. Thanks to these ressources the government said it was ready to implement the most recent recommendation made by the European Commission and to invest in infrastructure, communications, education and healthcare.

British European Affairs Minister, Jim Murphy travelled on 16th September to Hungary and on 17th to Poland to take part in the "Global Europe" seminars. The first seminar focussed on citizens' protection, the up-keep of competitiveness, the promotion of employment and growth in a low CO2 economy and the means of improving the Union's social dimension. During this visit the Minister met Hungarian Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz, with whom he made a joint declaration on Human Rights and the fight against discrimination. In Warsaw Jim Murphy spoke of the way the EU can face up to the challenges of globalisation and respond to the need for the free movement of workers in Europe.

The Social Democrat Party (SD) led by Borut Pahor won the general elections in Slovenia by a narrow margin ahead of the Democrat Party (SDS) led by outgoing Prime Minister, Janez Jansa. According to the Electoral Commission out of the 99.97% votes that have been counted, less the proxy votes (around 2%) whose results will not be known until 29th September, the SD won 30.5% of the vote (29 seats) and the SDS 29.32% (28 seats). The new party, Zares won 9.4%, the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) 7.45%, the Nationalist Party (SNS) 5.46%, the People's Party (SLS) 5.24%, the Liberal Democrat Party (LDS) 5.19%. New Slovenia (NSi) with 3.24% is no longer represented in Parliament. Turn out rose to 62.16%.

Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko threatened on 20th September to stop dialogue with the Western countries if they did not acknowledge the general elections on 28th September as being democratic. "If the West does not acknowledge the results of the parliamentary elections as being democratic this time and the opinion of Western politicians is that they are not democratic then Belarusian authorities will stop all dialogue with them," he declared. He also criticised members of the opposition whom he qualifies as "blubberers", talking of a "statistical margin of error" with regard to their number. "The opposition slogans are not generally constructive and this is why it does not enjoy the population's confidence," he declared saying that "the West is mistaken to think that the opposition has a high profile."

The EU Mission that was decided upon on 1st September by the Heads of State and Government will include 200 observers who are to be deployed by October 1st. Its main role will be to observe, analyse and establish a report on the respect of the ceasefire agreement and other agreements signed after the conflict in August 2008. The mission will be funded by the Member States and the budget dedicated to the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy). This mission will be led by Hansjörg Haber, at present the German Ambassador in Beirut.

Most Macedonians are against changing the name of their country in order to join NATO - a condition set by Greece - and only 23% of them would support such a change to join the Atlantic Alliance according to a survey published on 18th September by the Institute for Democracy in Skopje (independent) amongst 1,113 people. 69.9% of those interviewed are against any change in name so that Macedonia can integrate NATO. However Macedonia's accession to NATO is approved by 85.2% of those interviewed. 6.1% of Macedonians are totally against their country joining the Atlantic Alliance.

Serb Home Minister Ivica Dacic and Europol Director Max-Peter Ratzel signed a co-operation agreement in Belgrade on 18th September - this is part of the fight against terrorism and human trafficking. This "strategic" agreement will be followed by another agreement which will define the means of co-operation between Serbia and Europol in real terms. The minister stressed that the enhancement of co-operation with Europol was vital in view of the lifting of the visa regime with regard to Serb citizens who want to travel in the EU. Europol facilitates the exchange of information between national police forces. All EU member countries, which Serbia would like to join, are members of the organisation.

The parliamentary crisis in the Ukraine worsened on 16th September when the President of the Rada, Arsenyi Yatsenyouk offically declared the end of the government coalition between the Our Urkaine-Defence of the People Bloc which supports President Viktor Yushenko and the BYUT led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko refused to resign on 17th September inspite of the collapse of the pro-government coalition in power in the Ukraine. She even admitted on 19th September that she might form a government coalition with the pro-Russian opposition (Regions Party), to avoid the dissolution of Parliament. "I think that can only be a last resort, a forced requirement in the face of the possible dissolution of Parliament," she declared. "Our team does not like this option - it is like a step backs for the democratic team in Parliamen," she admitted.

On 16th September the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission launched the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) to enable public authorities in the EU Member and Candidate Countries to become more effective participants in PPP transactions. The EPEC will have its seat at the EIB in Luxembourg.

Werner Almhofer, an Austrian diplomat was appointed on 18th September as new head of mission for the OSCE in Kosovo. Aged 48 he was appointed by the Finnish presidency of the organisation in replacement of Swiss Tim Guldiman.

On 15th and 16th September NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and Atlantic Alliance Defence Ministers travelled to Georgia. On the opening of the ambassadors' meeting of the 26 NATO member countries, the Secretary General severely criticised the use of force by Russia: "Russia used blind force and must now adhere to the six point ceasefire plan." He said that the NATO "enlargement process would continue" and that "NATO remained open to Georgia".

On 15th September the European Commission put forward a proposal to the WTO to update the IT Agreement. This agreement signed in 1996 between the two main trading powers in the world aims to reduce customs duties on a series of products. The Commission suggests widening this agreement to include new products that have come on to the market since 1996 and to find solutions to problems linked with non-tariff barriers and the non-function of certain procedures in the present agreement. The EU's tariff treatment of some IT products is challenged at the WTO by the USA, Japan and Taiwan.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 15th September the hourly cost of labour increased by 2.7% in the euro area in the second quarter of 2008 in comparison with 3.5% in the previous quarter. In the EU this increase rose to 3.4% in the second quarter in comparison with 4.4% in the previous quarter.

The Centre for Strategic Analysis has published a report entitled "Encourager la mobilité des jeunes en Europe, orientations stratégiques pour la France et l'Union Européenne." (Encouraging youth mobility in Europe - strategic guidelines for France and the European Union). This study undertaken on request of three French ministers, Eric Besson, Jean-Pierre Jouyet and Valérie Pécresse, includes several articles by Thierry Chopin, research director at the Robert Schuman Foundation.

Since it will be European Languages Day on 26th September, the Documentation Française has published a book by Claude Truchot entitled "Europe:l'enjeu linguistique" - Europe: the linguistic stakes". This work rounds up the language situation and their use in Europe.

With Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse as its competitors it was the Phocaean city (Marseilles) that won the title of European cultural capital on 16th September. In line with the competition rules, Marseilles will share the title in 2013 with a town in one of the new EU Member States: it will be Kosice in Slovakia, appointed on 9th December 2007.