On 13th January the European Commission presented its new recommendations concerning flexibility in terms of the implementation of the existing budgetary rules in the Stability and Growth Pact. It announced that Member States' direct contributions to the European Funds for Strategic Investments (EFSI) will not be taken into account when budgetary adjustment is being assessed. This will apply to all States, whether they are subject or not the preventive or corrective chapter of the Pact. States that are not subject to an "excessive deficit procedure" will also be able to deviate temporarily from their mid-term budgetary goals in order to take on board their investments (even outside the EFSI) according to the following terms: their growth is negative or the GDP is below potential, the difference does not lead to the non-respect of the 3% deficit reference value whilst maintaining an adequate safety margin, investment levels are increased as a result. Investments included in this clause will be national spending on projects co-financed by the EU as part of the Structural and Cohesion Policy, the trans-European and inter-connection networks in Europe as well as the co-financing of projects with the EFSI.

The Belgian police undertook a sweeping anti-terrorist operation in Verviers and in the region around Brussels on 15th January. "Last week the danger of an attack was at a point that we had never reached before," declared the Federal Prosecutor Eric van der Sypt. The federal police building in Brussels as well as the Palace of Justice were the main targets. In all around 12 searches were undertaken in Belgium. Whilst the country is still on level three alert the government presented 12 measures to counter terrorism on 16th January, as well as steps to foster the exchange of information and to counter the radicalisation of people in prisons more effectively. The inclusion of new criminal proceedings against people who travel abroad for terrorist purposes as well as a widening of possibilities to withdraw nationality from these individuals have also been announced.

On 15th January German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the Bundestag. During this speech she firmly condemned the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris. She called on MPs as well as all European citizens to stand together against the growing terrorist threat. She insisted on the ideological aspect of these attacks. They were an infringement of the model of western civilisation of which the freedom of expression is one of the fundamental rights. In Germany this law is provided for in article 5 of the Fundamental Law. Angela Merkel declared that democracy is stronger than terrorism and this is why we have to stand against it together. The Chancellor then lay out a series of measures to try and combat terrorism. These measures will notably help prevent possible candidates leaving for the jihad in Syria but also prevent them from returning to Germany.

On 13th January French Prime Minister Manuel Valls paid tribute to the 17 victims of the attacks that took place on 7th, 8th and 9th January as he spoke at the National Assembly, detailing the measures taken by the government to step up the security of the French population and to counter terrorism. On this occasion he declared that "France is at war against terrorism, jihadism and radical Islam. France is not at war against a religion." An exceptional situation requires exceptional measures. "But I also say with the same strength: never will exceptional measures be taken that derogate the principles of law and values," he said.

The European Commission announced on 16th January that it was to finance eight research projects in the fight to counter Ebola; these projects will comprise the development of vaccines against Ebola (three projects) and also rapid diagnostic tests (three projects). Indeed it is difficult to diagnose Ebola and the development of these tests might enable the conclusion or not of contamination within a 15 minute period. The two remaining projects will be devoted to the production of vaccines as well as the financing of the means to ensure the respect of their dosage. These research programmes are part of the Ebola+ programme in the Initiative for Innovative Medicines. They will be financed by the European Commission to a total of 114 million € as part of the Horizon 2020 programme. The remainder of the package ie 101 million € will assumed by the pharmaceutical companies participating in the project.

On 13th January the European Parliament adopted a new bill allowing the EU's Member States to restrict or ban the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on their territory, even if the EU's legislation allows it. The new measures will enable Member States to ban GMOs for environmental policy reasons other than the dangers linked to health and the environment assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). They also provide for a discussion phase with the company producing the GMO in question during which the Member State can set a unilateral ban in the event of disagreement. This text, which was the focus of an agreement with the Council in December 2014, was approved 480 votes in support, 159 against and 58 abstentions. The new bill is to enter into force in the summer of 2015.

On 13th January Matteo Renzi, the President of the Italian Council presented the results of the Italian Presidency of the Council, which ended in December, to the European Parliament. Mr Renzi spoke of the need for Europe "to invest in success" in order to end the crisis and the recession: "it is vital for us to fight together to overcome the recession and austerity." Regarding security and after the terrorist attacks in Paris, Matteo Renzi declared that "without freedom, there is no security."

Laimdota Straujuma, Latvia's Prime Minister - whose country will be assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union over the next six months - presented her working programme to MEPs on 14th January. This comprises three chapters: security, which includes a response to the jihadist threat in the wake of the attacks in Paris, employment and the digital market. In terms of security the Latvian Prime Minister stressed that she was going to take forward discussions on the Passenger Name Records.

On 15th January the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Russia, particularly on the Alexey Navalny case. This resolution stresses that the convictions and sentencing against the lawyer, Alexey Navalny, who is committed to countering corruption and his brother Oleg Navalny, were based on "unsupported details" that were probably driven by "political reasons". In this context MEPs are asking for the legal proceedings in the Nalvany cases to be free of any "political interference" and that they respect acknowledged international standards. Finally it asked the EU's High Representative to set out an overall strategy against Russia "that aims to protect the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of European States," and to support the strengthening of democratic principles in Russia.

On 15th January the European Parliament re-iterated its support to the Ukrainian government against the Russian offensive that continues in the east of the country. The sanctions taken against Russia will be maintained as long as the country continues to undertake an aggressive policy in Ukraine (violation of the cease-fire and military support to the separatists). Parliament also condemned the "terrorist acts and criminal behaviour of the separatists and the various non-regular armed forces in the east of Ukraine" and is expecting the EU to put forward a plan to counter the "information war" undertaken by Russia and to rise to the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine. MEPs also maintained their support to the policy whereby they refuse to acknowledge the annexation of Crimea by Russia which they deem "illegal". Finally they said to the Council that it should extend the range of the sanctions if Russia continued to undertake other acts to destabilise Ukraine.

The 28 Foreign Ministers who met on 19th January committed to stepping up coordination and information sharing within the EU as part of the fight to counter terrorism more effectively. They also asked the European Parliament to make progress towards adopting a text on the passenger name record issue (PNR). In this context the EU's High Representative Federica Mogherini signed a protocol with the Secretary General of the Arab League that aims to strengthen the EU's cooperation with the Arab countries, the importance of which the Council had previously highlighted. Ministers had a long discussion about the EU's relations with Russia - notably regarding the situation in Ukraine, recalling the need to adopt a common strategy regarding this country. The Council adopted an action plan on climate change setting goals that the EU has to reach before the Paris Climate Conference. They welcomed the "democratic commitment and the sense of responsibility of the Tunisian people, of the entire political class and of civil society" which led to the smooth running of the general and presidential elections in Tunisia. Finally the Council decided to appeal against the EU Court of Justice's decision to annul the measures taken against the Hamas as it was withdrawn from the EU's list of terrorist organisations. Following this appeal the decision was suspended until a final judgment is given by the Court of Justice.

The German Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) published its data on the country's growth in 2014 on 15th January. Germany revealed GDP growth of 1.5% in 2014 which is in line with expectations but higher than the initial government forecast of 1.2%

During his New Year's wishes presented to the army on 14th January the President of the Republic of France, François Hollande announced that staff reductions would not be as great in the area of defence so that the army will enjoy larger numbers to combat the terrorist threat. "The exceptional situation that we are now experiencing must lead to a review of staff reductions which were programmed over the next three years as part of the military programming law" he declared stressing that France was "at war" against terrorism. The President has already asked Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to "make suggestions" about how to ease the reduction of staff numbers so that it is adapted according to "budgetary requirements." Final arbitration on this will be undertaken at the end of the Defence Council on 21st January. These announcements should lead to changes in the military programming law which provides for the destruction of 7500 posts in 2014 and 2015, 34,000 in all before 2019.

The Greeks are being invited to renew the 300 members of Parliament on 25th January. Just one week before the election the radical left, SYRIZA leads in terms of voting intentions with a two to three point lead over New Democracy, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras - will SYRIZA win a majority to govern? What will happen otherwise?

On 15th January the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a bill planning for three waves of partial "mobilisation" of reserve troops into the army in 2015 in answer to the conflict that is continuing with the pro-Russian separatist rebels in the east of the country. According to this text, which follows a presidential decision signed the previous day, the first wave will start on 20th January and will mobilise around 50,000 people. The other phases are planned for April and June. The decision taken by President Poroshenko explains this decision via the need to "have an adequate response to the threats caused by aggressive action taken by Russia" which is weighing on "national security", "the independence" of Ukraine and its "territorial integrity."

In December 2014 the euro zone recorded an annual inflation rate of -0.2% which was down in comparison with November at 0.3%. This is the lowest rate recorded since September 2009. In December 2013 the euro zone's annual inflation rate lay at 0.8%. Annual inflation in the European Union decreased in December 2014 to -0.1% against 0.3% in November. A year ago the rate lay at 1%. In December 2014 negative annual rates were recorded in 16 Member States. These figures were published by Eurostat on 16th January 2015.

The 2014 report on the development of employment and the social situation in Europe published on 15th January announces that the countries which best resisted the economic crisis were those which associated quality jobs, effective social protection and strong investment. The report indicates that investments in education and life-long training reduced the effects of the recession on employment and income. Marianne Thyssen, the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Mobility announced that structural reform would be "necessary", just as "measures to support consumption and demand." In this way she showed support to the Juncker Investment Plan. The report encourages the re-establishment of convergence between European countries which have suffered major structural imbalances over the last few years in terms of productivity, investment and social protection.

The 60th BRAFA, one of the most prestigious art and antiques fairs in Europe will start on 24th January and will be on until 1st February 2015. The BRAFA aims to be eclectic and offers buyers a wide variety of works: Asian, Oriental, African and Australian art, primitive art, jewellery, furniture, porcelain, carpets, antique pictures and also modern art work ... On this occasion many conferences will be taking place as part of the BRAFA Art Talks: "Steamers and Art Déco, an exceptional crossing" by Brigitte Sabule on 24th January, "The history of the acquisitions of the African collections of the Quai Branly Museum," by Hélène Joubert on 25th January.

On 17th January the Czech town of Pilsen launched celebrations as European Capital of Culture 2015. On 24th January the Belgian town of Mons will do the same. The two towns are putting on many events and a programme is available on their sites.

On 22nd January the Gustave Moreau Museum in Paris will be opening some renovated rooms. Hence the ground floor, closed since 2002, will be open again offering visitors nearly 80m2 of extra room that contain over 400 paintings, hundreds of drawings including copies made in Italy between 1857 and 1859 and a unique collection of Gustave Moreau's water-colours. Visitors will be able to see more than one hundred works, including the view out over what was Moreau's garden - so typical of the New Athens quarter.