Nine candidates are vying to succeed Czech President Milos Zeman in the election, the first round of which takes place on 13 and 14 January. According to the latest opinion poll, economist and independent candidate Danuse Nerudova is leading with 28% of the vote, followed by former prime minister Andrej Babis with 26.5% and former NATO military committee chairman Petr Pavel with 23.5%.

Member States and the EU have taken action to tackle rising energy prices. In Slovenia, the government unveiled a €1.2 billion plan to support businesses on 6 December. On 7 December, the Bulgarian parliament adopted a 33% tax on windfall profits made by oil, gas and coal companies in the years 2022 and 2023. The Foundation offers you a regularly updated map to help you understand the situation.

The European Union and Norway signed an agreement on 6 December formalising Norway's financial contribution to the EU Mission to assist in the training and equipping of the Ukrainian armed forces (EUMAM Ukraine). On 31 October, Norway had announced its intention to contribute approximately €14.5 million to the EU Peace Facility.

On 6 December, the Commission pledged to invest €1.2 billion in 61 cutting-edge defence industry projects supported by the European Defence Fund aimed at research and capability development on a European scale. Overall, SMEs represent 43% of the entities participating in the selected projects.

Belgian police arrested six people on 9 December, four of whom have been detained, in connection with an investigation into suspected corruption by Qatar in the European Parliament. The home of another MEP, Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgium), was searched. Eva Kaili, Vice-President of the European Parliament (S&D, Greece), who was indicted and jailed for corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organisation, was suspended from her position as Vice-President of the Parliament and expelled from the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok). Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that "European democracy is under attack" and that the Parliament will help the investigators "as long as it takes".

On 5 December, Transport Ministers adopted a general approach on the draft legislation for the construction of a comprehensive trans-European transport network (TEN-T) by 2050. They approved conclusions on the further development of inland waterway transport. They discussed the transport situation in the context of the war in Ukraine.

At the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) ministerial meeting on 5 December, the EU expressed its concerns about the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes discriminatory provisions and provides for subsidies that could lead to distortions of competition.

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on 6 December on new rules to ensure that products sold in the EU are not linked to the destruction or degradation of forests. Fines for breaching the rules will be at least 4% of operators' annual turnover. The agreement also provides for the right to prior consent of indigenous peoples to be taken into account.

On 7 December, the Court of Justice ruled that WhatsApp's action for annulment of the European Data Protection Council's decision to impose a fine of €225 million for violating the provisions of the Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is inadmissible. Furthermore, the Court ruled on 8 December that search engines are obliged to delete allegedly false information. It stated that, given the ability of images to convey highly sensitive information about an individual, the protection of the right to privacy should be of particular importance.

The Artemis I lunar mission ended with the return to Earth of the Orion spacecraft on 11 December. NASA's 25-day unmanned test flight took Orion around the Moon and further than any other spacecraft designed to carry humans back to Earth.

On 6 December, the German Constitutional Court approved the €750 billion European recovery plan launched by the European Union in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The judges found that the plan does not "violate the democratic right to self-determination" established by the Basic Law, being "limited to the exceptional need to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis, and thus assigned to a specific purpose".

On 8 December, the Council definitively adopted the decision that allows the European Union to lift controls on persons at the internal land and sea borders with Croatia from 1 January, which will thus become part of the Schengen area of free movement.

The leaders of the southern countries of the European Union (EU MED), meeting in Alicante on 9 December, discussed strategic autonomy and economic governance, with a particular focus on energy issues. Debates focused in particular on the issue of the market correction mechanism and the Commission's proposal for tax reforms. Emphasis was placed on the pioneering and innovative role of the countries of the South in providing solutions to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

On 9 December, the leaders of the three Baltic states met in Riga to discuss energy security and support for Ukraine. Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Kariņs and his Estonian and Lithuanian counterparts, Kaja Kallas and Ingrida Simonyte, said that if needed, their countries could connect to the Central European electricity system. An agreement between the three states on security of supply is also being considered.

The Governing Board of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has given the green light to the adoption of the CEB's Strategic Framework 2023-2027, and to a capital increase of € 4.25 billion. The investments will be earmarked for activities in Ukraine.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 7 December, GDP increased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the European Union in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter. Employment rose by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU. Ireland recorded the highest increase in GDP with 2.3% and Estonia the sharpest decrease (-1.8%).

In a report on visa waiver agreements presented on 5 December, the Commission found that measures by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia, as well as Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, are needed for alignment with EU visa policy. It stressed that further efforts should be made to avoid an increase in irregular arrivals at European borders and to better combat organised crime.

Until 6 February 2023, the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris is dedicating an exhibition to Mickalene Thomas. This multifaceted artist creates works of various kinds: paintings, collages, photographs, videos, performances...