On 5th November 2013 the General Manager of the Robert Schuman Foundation, Pascale Joannin will be speaking at a round table on the theme of the reputation of think-tanks on the occasion of "Reputation Day".

According to a monthly report by the National Employment Agency published on 30th October 2013 the unemployment rate remained stable in Germany at 6.9% after correction due to seasonal variations. However although unemployment remained stable the number of unemployed increased by 2000 people. In all Germany has 2.8 million unemployed. The figure is at its lowest since November 2012.

In view of the next Fisheries Council in December 2013 the European Commission has put forward proposals for better management of fishing quotas in 2014 in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Since the Union has reached the maximum sustainable yield on certain stocks - herring, hake, sardine, plaice - the total allowable catches -TACs - can be raised. At the same time some stocks which are depleted have not replenished since last year (cod, sole, whiting) and the TACs are still running out.

On 29th October 2013 the Council came to agreement on the Union's cohesion policy for 2014-2020 totalling 325.15 billion euro and which aims to reduce disparities between European regions as well as promoting growth, employment and competitiveness. The European Parliament has to approve this text.

On 31st October 2013 the European Central Bank (ECB) as well as five other central banks (US Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank) gave their agreement to permanent bilateral liquidity swaps. The ECB stressed that "this measure enabled the provision of liquidities in each jurisdiction in any of the five foreign currencies if both central banks were taking part in the bilateral liquidity swap and believed that market conditions would guarantee such action in one of their currencies."

"The construction of the Bulgarian section of the gaspipeline South Stream started on 31st October 2013" announced the Bulgarian government and the Russian company Gazprom during a press conference in Sofia. "This is the most important investment project in Europe, a key factor in energy security for the entire European continent," explained Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller.

French President François Hollande travelled to Slovakia on 29th October 2013 on the invitation of his Slovak counterpart, Ivan Gasparovic. This was the French Head of State's first visit since the country's independence which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. During the meeting with Mr Gasparovic an action plan for a strategic partnership between the two countries was signed. Both heads of State spoke of areas of cooperation, notably the economy, nuclear energy, culture, as well as issues related to foreign policy such as the Vilnius Summit on the Eastern Partnership. Mr Hollande then spoke with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. They spoke of their countries' cooperation in terms of youth employment, economic growth and the European budget.

During a joint meeting of Visegrad Group Foreign Ministers (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and of their counterparts from the Western Balkans on 31st October 2013 the ministers expressed their support for the enlargement process. They welcomed the significant progress made by Montenegro and expressed their support for the launch of membership negotiations with Serbia as well as negotiations with Kosovo regarding an Association and Stabilisation Agreement. They maintained that they wanted to share their transition and integration experience - and also that they wanted to help the countries of the Western Balkans via real projects funded by the International Visegrad Fund.

On November 1st 2013 during an interview with the Italian daily "La Stampa" the President of the Italian Council, Enrico Letta forecast the rise of populist parties in the next European elections. In his opinion the danger of these parties rising above the 25% threshold in 28 Member States is real. In Italy Mr Letta believes that major progress on the part of the "Five Stars Movement" is to be feared. According to Mr Letta the EU must base its political strategy on a project for economic growth.

On 31st October 2013 Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš, and Estonian President Tomas Hendrik Ilves met the President of the Eurogroup and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem in Riga to discuss the euro zone's financial and economic stability, as well as the perspectives for the introduction of the euro in Latvia and Lithuania. This meeting followed the annual discussion between the presidents of the three Baltic States who notably addressed the energy, economic and military security of their region as well as the Eastern Partnership.

The 50th Meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) took place on 27th to 29th October 2013 in Vilnius. The conclusions note the progress made by the Council of the European Union, the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy, perspectives for the Eastern Partnership and the European elections in 2014. COSAC highlights the strategic importance of the Eastern Partnership and the specific importance of Ukraine in the process. Regarding the European elections COSAC believes that the establishment of a link between the elections and the European Parliament and the election of the president of the Commission introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is a major stage in the reduction of the EU's democratic deficit.

The Netherlands is to dispatch 380 soldiers and four Apache combat helicopters to Mali to strengthen the front against continued attacks by jihadists said the Dutch Prime Minister on November 1st during a press conference after the Council of Ministers. The Dutch contingent's main task will be linked to information services as part of the Minusma (International Support Mission to Mali), but its activities will also include the training of local policemen said the Foreign Minister.

British employers have stated they support UK staying in a reformed EU on 4th November 2013, stressing the economic advantages of membership whilst the government has promised a referendum on the issue. "We have looked into the advantages and disadvantages of EU membership beyond the political rhetoric and British businesses are quite clear: the single market is fundamental for our future," declared the General Manager of the CBI, John Cridland.

On 2nd November 2013 Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili appointed Interior Minister, Irakli Garibashvili as his successor after his resignation from government on 24th November. "Our team supported Mr Irakli Garibashvili's unanimously" declared Mr Ivanishvili during a press conference in Tbilissi. "Georgia will have a new Prime Minister who is worthy of the name." Mr Garibashvili is to take office once his appointment as Prime Minister has been approved by Parliament which is dominated by Mr Ivanishvili's coalition, Georgian Dream and after the investiture of the new President. He will be the youngest Prime Minister ever appointed in Georgia (31 years old).

Heads of government and parliamentarians of the Nordic Council, (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) met on 29th-31st October in Oslo on the occasion of the 65th session of the Nordic Council. They discussed continuing their cooperation insisting on the Welfare State, culture and innovation, international cooperation and sustainable development. The Council elected Karin Astrom (Swedish MP) as the leader of the Nordic Council in 2014.

On 29th October 2013 Turkey and mainly the city of Istanbul inaugurated the first rail tunnel under the Bosphorus: the Marmaray Tunnel. For the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey Istanbul celebrated the completion of the 14 km long tunnel, 1,400m of which are under the seabed enabling the link between the European and Asian shores of the city. The first stone was laid in 2004. The tunnel has the financial support of the European Investment Bank and the Bank of Japan in terms of international cooperation. The total cost of the project is estimated at 3 billion euro. Work will finally be completed in 2016.

Meeting in session in Strasbourg from 29th to 31st October the Congress of Local and Regional powers of the Council of Europe adopted two reports to improve the integration of migrants via entrepreneurship and access to the labour market. Europe has 33 million migrants living within its borders who encounter obstacles linked in accessing the labour market.

According to a new Eurobarometer survey published on 4th November 2013 nearly nine Europeans in ten believe that the loss of biodiversity - the decline and disappearance of species of plants and animals, natural habitats and ecosystems in Europe - is a problem. Nearly four people in ten (38%) say they are already doing something personally to protect biodiversity, a slightly higher share than in 2007. Around 8 Europeans in ten (78%) say they buy environmentally friendly products from local and organic production in order to help prevent biodiversity loss.

According to figures published by Eurostat on 29th October 2013 in the second quarter of 2013 the business investment rate lay at 19.2% in the euro zone against 18.8% in the first quarter of 2013. This increase was the result of greater investment (+3.2%) over gross added value (+0.9%), whilst stocks (materials, supplies and finished products) had decreased.

On 30th October 2013 the United Nations Fund for the World's Population published its annual report on the state of the world's population. This year it is called "Motherhood in Childhood. Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy" and looks into the cases of 20,000 young under 18 year olds who daily give birth to a baby. This phenomenon is not unknown in developed countries but is more widely spread in developing countries as the report explains. The latter calls for young girls not to be blamed for their early pregnancies, but rather that social pressure to which they are subject should be taken into account. Hence it stresses the real goal which should be to bring inequality between men and women, likewise discrimination to an end. The text commits to 'developing girls' human capital.

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton is running an exhibition until 2nd March 2014 on Turner, a British 19th century artist . The exhibition highlights the Royal Pavilion's new acquisition: the "Brighthelmston, Sussex" (1824 and shows how Turner and his contemporaries saw the town at the height of its development in the 1820's during the reign of George IV.