On 12th and 13th January next 8.3 million Czechs are being called to ballot to appoint the President of the Republic. This vote is being held exactly three months after the legislative vote which took place on 20th and 21st October which witnessed victory on the part of ANO (Yes), led by Andrej Babis. The result of this elections remains extremely uncertain.

On 14th December the 28 heads of State and government adopted conclusions on security, defence, the Union's social dimension, education and culture as well as climate change. Although the European Council welcomed the progress achieved in terms of defence and security it stresses that it is important to implement rapidly the first projects.

On 11th December the Commission presented a code of conduct that puts forward solutions for investors who are taxed twice on the revenues that they draw from their cross-border investments. It includes a one-stop-shop in the tax administrations of the Member States and measures providing aid to small investors who are overcome by the complexity of reimbursement rules.

On 13th December MEPs welcomed the evidence of "sufficient progress" contained in the joint 15 page report that should lead to the passage over to the second phase of Brexit negotiations. They did however deplore the declarations made by David Davis who qualified the results of the first round of negotiations as a simple "declaration of intent". They also recalled that there remained some "major issues" still to settle.

The membership Conferences of Serbia and Montenegro took place on 11th December in Brussels. Regarding Serbia two new chapters were opened: the sixth on corporate law, and the 30th on external relations. Regarding Montenegro, the second and third chapters were opened addressing respectively the freedom of movement of workers, the freedom of establishment and service provision.

On 14th December the ECB's Council of Governors forecast a net growth for the euro zone in 2017 to 2019 without envisaging that inflation would rise towards its goal by 2020. It also said that interest rates would remain unchanged. "We are certainly more confident than we were two months ago," declared Mario Draghi, who unveiled the first growth forecast for 2020 at 1.7%. He believes that this "sound cyclical dynamic" gives "reasons to be confident in the fact that inflation will reach our goal", ie a figure "lower but close" to 2%.

On 17th December two months after the general elections, Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ) came to a coalition agreement. Sebastian Kurz will be Chancellor and Heinz-Christian Strache, Vice-Chancellor. The government comprises 14 ministers, five of whom are women.

The One Planet summit devoted to global warming that took place on 12th December in Paris led to the adoption of around 12 commitments to finance the fight to counter global warming. These 12 "Clim'acts" range from response strategies to extreme events, the protection of natural resources and measures in support of electric vehicles and initiatives in the financial sector to foster a decarbonised economy.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the new Polish Prime Minister, was sworn in on 11th December and approved by Parliament on 12th. He remains as Finance Minister and replaces Beata Szydlo who becomes Deputy Prime Minister.

Andrej Babis was sworn in as head of the Czech government on 13th December by Milos Zeman. The new Prime Minister will head a minority government of 14 ministers, four of whom are women.

On 13th December the House of Commons approved an amendment that gives the Parliament the right of veto over the final Brexit agreement. Approved by 309 MPs against 305 amendment 7 stipulates that any agreement negotiated with Brussels will have to be passed by Parliament before it enters into force.

Norway and Latvia signed a memorandum of understanding on 14th December 2017 which will enable an increase in Norwegian subsidies given to its close Baltic neighbour. A member of the European Economic Area, Norway takes part in subsidies that aim to reduce economic disparities between the Member States (known as the Norway Grants).

During the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference that took place from 10th to 13th December in Buenos Aries the EU approved several declarations regarding e-commerce, the facilitation of investments in support development and the rules internal to the services sector. The Council did however express its disappointment at the results achieved.

On 12th December the OECD published unemployment figures for the OECD countries in October 2017. Unemployment was down by 0.1% in October 2017, to 5.6%, recovering its pre-crisis level noted in April 2008. However at 35.1 million the total number of unemployed remains 2.5 million higher than in April 2008.

The number of people in work increased by 0.3% in the EU and by 0.4% in the euro zone in the third quarter 2017 in comparison with the previous quarter according to Eurostat figures published on 13th December.

On 11th December Eurostat published facts and figures about the globalisation of the economy and notably regarding the EU's trade and investments. The greatest surplus of the international trade in goods and services was recorded by the Union in 2016 (+304 billion €), ahead of China (+226 billion €). Moreover the main FDI stocks in the Union are held by the USA, and a greater share of the Union's FDIs are in the USA.

On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Ventura Rodriguez, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid is devoting an exhibition to him from 20th December to 28th April 2018. A central figure of 18th century Spanish architecture the exhibition illustrates his major influence over the Enlightenment in Spain.