Just one week before the general election in Germany on 22nd September next and according to the most recent poll published by Infratest Dimap the CDU will easily win the election with 41% of the vote. It is due to be followed by the SPD which is forecast to win 27%, the Greens 10%; the Left Party 8% and the FDP, 5%. With 3% of the vote the AfD would be below the 5% threshold obligatory to be represented in the Bundestag. The campaign is in full swing to convince the undecided and to guarantee a good turnout.

On 11th September 2013 the OECD published two reports on the Irish economy: "Economic Study of Ireland 2013" and "Local Job Creation: How Employment and Training Agencies can Help." These two reports explain that recovery is now underway in Ireland but that growth had to be boosted. Hence the organisation is encouraging the country to act on unemployment, notably amongst young people and that it also had to foster growth. 13% of the population is without work in spite of a slight decline in unemployment over the last few months.

On 11th September 2013 the European Commission adopted a regulation to reform the single telecommunications market. It is notably suggesting the suppression of roaming fees, cheaper calls abroad, the guarantee of an internet system open to all and new consumer rights. The latter will be able to conclude 12 month limited contracts and change provider more easily. Moreover the proposal mentions the simplification and harmonisation of operators' rules and measures to guarantee better, faster wifi internet access.

On 12th September MEPs gave the greenlight for the introduction of a single supervisory mechanism of euro zone banks under the authority of the European Central Bank. This mechanism will be in force as of September 2014 and will supervise around 150 euro zone banks. It is also open to other EU banks. The European Banking Authority is responsible for setting out supervisory procedures which supervisors of national banks will have to follow. The European Parliament will have access to a range of information and will receive complete reports of the meetings held by the supervisory committee.

The EU Finance Ministers met in Vilnius for an informal meeting on the single resolution mechanism on 13th and 14th September. Divergences have emerged; Berlin is critical about the Commission's proposal which would indirectly force German banks to fund rescue plans or bankruptcies of other European banks. The UK has expressed its concern and does not like the idea of the Commission taking over the banks' resolution plans. Time is running out in view of the European elections in May 2014 which will interrupt the legislative process. A compromise has to be found by the end of 2013.

In 2012 the EU gave a single response to short-selling based on article 114 of the Treating on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) was given various powers of action thanks to article 28 if the good functioning, the integrity and the stability of the EU's financial markets were in danger. On 12th September 2013 the General Prosecutor, M. Jaaskinen suggested that article 28 be abolished deeming that article 114 of the TFEU was not a good legal base for its adoption. He said that article 28 established a new emergency decision making mechanism within the Union. Hence this was a transposal of the decision making process from the national level over to the Union which goes beyond the competences of article 114 of the TFEU.

On 12th September 2013 German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood as the protector of the German car industry given the environmental requirements set by the EU as she inaugurated the Car Show in Frankfurt-am-Main. In her speech the Chancellor called for a "sensible balance" between the protection of the environment and economic interests. "It makes no sense to limit oneself to one category of car in Europe, i.e. small, sober cars," she declared.

On 12th September 2013 the Spanish Congress validated a royal decision involving access to social protection for part time workers. According to the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, Fatima Banez the bill will reduce differences between part time workers, who are mostly women and those who work full time. This bill will introduce greater flexibility over the minimum period of work necessary to acquire contributory retirement pensions set at present at 15 years.

The third Ministerial Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean on the "Strengthening of Women's role in Society" took place on 11th and 12th September in Paris. The meeting on 11th September was followed by a dinner together with the French President F.Hollande. During his speech he stressed that this conference was being held in the context of the Syrian war in which women have been the first victims. On 12th September ministers adopted a Declaration that included political commitments in three areas: equal participation by women and men in the political, economic and social domains; the fight to counter all types of violence and discrimination; the fight to counter gender stereotypes.

On 9th September 2013 during an annual dinner of the Bruegel Group organised on the theme of: "Defining the outline of a new world economy," the President of the Italian Council Enrico Letta gave a speech in support of European community institutions. He insisted on the need to step up political union giving a leadership role to the Franco-German couple, but also with an election of the next President of the European Commission after a real political campaign. This speech enabled him to address the major projects of the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union as of July 2014, which will be organised around the theme of political union. He also spoke of economic and monetary union pleading in support of a specific budget for the euro zone and of increased powers for a permanent president of the Eurogroup.

On 12th September 2013 a conference on the euro was held in Latvia on the occasion of the country's entry into the euro zone planned for January 1st 2014. After an inaugural speech by the Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, Mario Draghi, President of the ECB insisted on re-assuring the Latvian people of the advantages they would gain from transferring over to the euro. The conference concluded with a debate entitled "The Euro: Past, Present, and Future" in which several European personalities took part.

The British government announced on 10th September 2013 that the Royal Mail was to be privatised. The process was officially launched on 11th September with the introduction onto the stock exchange within the "next few weeks" which will go together with conditions to satisfy employees.

The Albanian Parliament approved the investiture of the coalition government led by Edi Rama on 15th September 2013. The latter promised to revive his country's economy and to draw closer to the EU. The new government comprises 20 ministers, including six women - an all time first in Albania - amongst whom features Mimi Kodheli who will be Defence Minister. 82 MPs voted for the investiture of this coalition government which comprises five ministers from the Socialist Integration Movement allied to the Socialist Party led by Edi Ramam, 55 voted against and one MP abstained.

The Icelandic Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson announced on 12th September 2013 that membership negotiations of Iceland to the European Union were being interrupted. Mr Sveinsson decided that the PAI (Pre-Accession Aid Instrument) would no longer be attributed. He did however say that Iceland wanted to strengthen ties with the EU and that it would continue to cooperate in areas such as fishing and energy.

On 9th September the Minister of State of Monaco, Michel Roger, presented the features specific to Monaco. Monaco is the smallest state of Europe after the Vatican and in spite of its smallness its contributions to Europe are significant in terms of employment, scientific research (electric car) and also regarding cultural and humanitarian issues. Monaco is negotiating with Brussels at present to conclude a partnership agreement with the European Union as it has done with San Marino and Andorra. Monaco hopes for the signature of a specific agreement with the EU without having to sacrifice its specific nature.

Eurostat has indicated that employment rates have declined in the euro zone (-1%) but that they remained stable in the European Union in the second quarter of 2013, in comparison with the first quarter of 2013 when employment plummeted in the euro zone (-0.4%) and in Europe 27 (-0.2%). In comparison with the same quarter last year employment has declined in the euro zone (-1%) and in the EU (-0,4%). Eurostat estimates that there are 221.8 million men and women in employment in the EU, 145 million of them are in the euro zone in the second quarter of 2013.

The agreement concluded on 14th September 2013 in Geneva between the USA and Russia on the dismantling of the Syrian chemical arsenal has opened the way to intense diplomatic talks before the settlement of a UN resolution which does not rule out the possible use of force against the Syrian regime. This agreement announced by the American and Russian heads of diplomacy John Kerry and Serguey Lavrov, sets precise deadlines: Damascus has one week to present a list of its chemical weapons and this must be removed and destroyed by the end of the first half of 2014. Moreover the process will be included in a UN Security Council resolution which will quote Chapter VII of the Charter that provides for the possibility of sanctions including the use of force if the Syrian regime does not comply with its commitments.

The Center for European Studies has just published a paper on populism in Europe entitled "Exposing the Demagogues. Right-wing and National Populist Parties in Europe". The paper prefaced by Elmar Brok, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the European Parliament offers several studies of national cases and makes a comparative analysis of the various populist parties in Europe. Magali Balent, Projects Director for the Robert Schuman Foundation is the author of the chapter on France.

La Documentation française has published the study by Philippe Delivet in its series "réflexeeurope" entitled "European Union Policies". The author, a consultant at the Department for Legislation and the Supervision of the Senate (Foreign Affairs Committee) reviews the European policies from the first cooperation projects to the present. After an initial historic chapter the author analyses European policies from an economic and monetary as well as a political, social and diplomatic angle. This paper enables a better understanding of the influence of European policies in the daily lives of EU citizens.

The Grand Palais is running the first retrospective devoted to Georges Braque (1882-1963) in the last forty years from 18th September 2013 to 6th January 2014. The originator of cubism and the inventor of collages he was one of the avant-garde in the early 20th century. The exhibition is offering a new vision of the artist and places his work in perspective with painting, literature and the music of his time.