The President of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Jean-Dominique Giuliani, has published an article in which he analyses the proposals made by European and French political parties in response to the economic and financial crisis. In this respect he is disappointed with their "minimum service" attitude and calls for more concrete proposals.

The Civic Platform (PO) party of the outgoing Prime Minister Donald Tusk came top in the parliamentary elections held on 9th October with 38.96% of the vote and 206 seats (-3 compared to the previous elections held on 21st October 2007), ahead of Jaroslaw Kaczynski's Law and Justice party (PiS) with 30.03% and 157 seats (- 9). The Palikot Movement (RPP) led by Janusz Palikot came 3rd with 9.94% and 40 seats. Waldemar Pawlak's People's Party (PSL), member of the outgoing government's coalition, collected 8.55% and 30 seats (- 1) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) 8.19% and 26 seats (- 27). The PO party won 62 seats in the Senate, the PiS 31 and the PSL 2. Less than half the electorate (48.63%) went out to vote, with turnout down by 5.25 points compared to the last parliamentary elections on 21st October 2007.

The Robert Schuman Foundation has published in its Notes collection a study by Pascale Andréani on "France, NATO and the European Union" in which the author explains the reasons for and the results of France's return to the NATO integrated military organisation. The Note can be ordered on line.

At a press conference in Berlin on 6th October, the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, announced a series of measures intended to ensure the cash reserves of the European banking system. In October and December the European Central Bank will undertake two operations to refinance banks, a mechanism that has not been used since 2009. 40 billion euros will also be used to buy assets, specifically real property, from European banks. The financial institution also announced that its main interest rate will remain at 1.50%.

On 5th October the European Commission adopted legislative proposals concerning the future of the cohesion policy for the period 2014-2020. One of the most controversial measures is the possibility of suspending aid to regions in countries where budgetary policy is too lax or which does not comply with the stability and growth pact. This option, which would only be used as a last resort according to the Commissioner in charge of regional policy, Johannes Hahn, is seen by many as a double penalty, which will aggravate still further the situation of the regions in most difficulty. The Regions Committee, as well as many MEPs and local authority representatives, amongst others, announced their strong opposition to this project, initiated by a proposal made by the French President and the German Chancellor. The Council and the Parliament have until 2013 to debate and amend the text.

On 5th October, members of the European Parliament Budget Commission set out their position on the European Union's budget for 2012. They considerably increased a certain number of budgetary headings, notably in the field of agriculture, and were firmly opposed to any reductions in the ambitions of the 2020 Strategy, stating that the current crisis should not reduce efforts in terms of sustainable growth. The text adopted is much closer to the Commission's proposals than the Council's text was. Representatives from Germany, France and the United Kingdom in particular stressed their desire to restrict the European budget, in the same way as national budgets are being limited. The European Parliament should make a pronouncement on this text at the plenary session on 26th October, and a conciliation commission between the Council and the Parliament should find a compromise agreement between now and the end of November.

On 3rd October the 27 employment ministers debated the future prospects for the European Social Fund and its role with a view to achievement of the objectives of Strategy 2020. They also prepared the tripartite social summit which will be held on 17th October and adopted measures relating to employment concerning voluntary work and reconciliation between professional and family life. Finally the ministers commented on the Franco-Slovenian note relating to assistance for the most underprivileged people in the European Union, which calls on ministers to find a solution quickly.

On 6th October the European Central Bank published its quarterly survey on the distribution of bank credit in the euro zone. The survey shows considerable toughening of credit criteria during the third quarter 2011. 16% of banks are toughening their criteria, compared to 2% over the previous quarter for non-financial companies. With regard to loans to individuals to buy property, the figure increases from 9 to 18%. This slowdown in the granting of credits can be explained by the deterioration of the sovereign debt crisis, the consequence of which is a lack of liquidity for banks. At the same time, requests for credits are down for the first time in a year, due to a lack of consumer confidence.

On 6th October the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, received the president of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, the general secretary of the OECD, Angel Gurría, the president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, and the president of the World Bank, Robert B. Zoellick, in Berlin to discuss the measures necessary for improvement of the international monetary system. They prepared the forthcoming G20 summit which will be held on 3rd and 4th November in Cannes. After a joint press conference, the Chancellor underlined the point that banks in need could "in future" turn to the European emergency fund and that there should be no hesitation in recapitalising those banks that need assistance.

The French, Belgian and Luxembourg governments announced on 9th October that they had found a solution for Dexia, the bank currently being dismantled. The Board decided to split the group on 10th October. The Belgian retail bank will be nationalised at a cost of 4 billion euros for the Belgian state. The Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments have decided to cover the group up to an amount of 90 billion euros, in order to facilitate its financing. At the same time the financial rating agency Moody's placed Belgium's rating under negative surveillance.

The new Danish government has cancelled permanent customs controls at the country's borders, which were reinstated in May 2010 by the previous government. The decision was announced by the new Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in a speech to the Danish parliament on 4th October. Reinstatement of checks had led to fierce debate at European level on the compatibility of this type of measure with the Schengen agreement.

The Spanish employment minister announced on 4th October that the number of people unemployed had increased to 4.226 million in September, i.e. a monthly increase of 2.32%. Over one year the number of people unemployed increased by 5.2%, i.e. 208,981 more people unemployed than at the end of September 2010.

On 6th and 7th October French President Nicolas Sarkozy went to the South Caucasus. He visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. During his trip to Armenia the French President paid homage to the victims of genocide at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial. He invited the Turkish government to recognise the Armenia genocide officially and as soon as possible. On 7th October the French President met his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliev, for lunch. In Tbilissi, Nicolas Sarkozy stated that Georgia should be "free" to aspire to joining the European Union and, in the long term, to join it, subject to furthering its democratic reforms.

The Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Zapatero, announced on 5th October that Spain was to play a part in NATO's anti-missile shield by accepting American military vessels fitted with interceptors. This declaration follows those made by Turkey, Poland and Rumania which have made their participation in the anti-missile shield official over these past few months. Leaders of the 28 NATO member countries gave their green light to the shield in 2010. American leaders have stated that the main aim of this anti-missile shield is to prevent a ballistic threat from Iran.

On 4th October parliamentarians at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly granted to the Palestinian National Council the status of "Partner for democracy". This status allows Palestinian delegates to speak and to take part in the work done by the Assembly, but with no right to vote. The aim of these developments is to strengthen the Palestinian State of law, particularly by encouraging multi-party elections, banning of the death penalty and ensuring equality between men and women. This new status is not, however, official recognition of the Palestinian State, at a time when negotiations on this subject are still on-going at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On 5th October the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) presented a report entitled "Evaluation of Agricultural Policy Reforms in the European Union". Experts from the OECD come to the conclusion that after 25 years of joint agricultural policy the European Union now has an opportunity to reform agricultural subsidies significantly. The report refers to the structure and main characteristics of the joint agricultural policy and to its developments over the past 25 years. OECD experts put forward four major recommendations: greater opening of the European market, more investment in agricultural innovation, creation of a framework for risk management at European level and improvement of environmental performance.

In a study published on 7th October, Eurobarometer analyses developments in public opinion in terms of climate change. The study, carried out last June, shows that the citizens of Europe are increasingly concerned about climate change: a majority puts it at the top of their concerns, ahead of the current economic and financial crisis. 80% of those questioned consider that this presents an opportunity which should be seized, to develop a high potential economic sector, both in terms of growth and employment. Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner responsible for action for climate, sees this awareness as encouraging, confirming the legitimacy of action undertaken by the European Union to reduce the impact of climate change.

In August the industrial producer prices index reached a level 0.1% below that of the previous month, declared Eurostat, the European Union statistical office, on 4th October. In terms of the European Union, the index was down 0.2%. Statisticians observe a 3.9% increase in the index for the euro area and a 6.7% increase for the European Union compared to price levels in August 2010.

The Foundation for International Relations and External Dialogue published on 5th October a study on "The EU and the Arab Spring", in which the author, whilst praising positive European reactions to the events, suggests that the European Union should rethink its strategy with regard to the Middle East in the long term and its influence in the region.

La Documentation française has published a book by Jean-François Jamet entitled "L'Europe peut-elle se passer d'un gouvernement économique?" (Can Europe do without economic governance?). The author explains the challenges of an "economic government" and also underlines the obstacles of an economic, political and institutional nature that will have to be overcome before such governance can be established. Jean-François Jamet has produced numerous studies on econmic governance for the Robert Schuman Foundation.

The "Gerhard Richter: Panorama" exhibition is being held at London's Tate Modern until 8th January 2012. This exhibition is London's first big retrospective dedicated to Gerhard Richter for 20 years. The show goes back over the various phases in the career of this German artist who was born in Dresden in 1932. It displays all the many variations of the artist's work.