On 28th November the Commission presented its strategy for 2050 of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in comparison with 1990 levels. It is aiming to use the areas of finance, industry and research as its support. The Commission does not define specific goals but, in line with the Paris Agreement, the strategy provides a main guideline. It is now up to the European institutions, the States - in view of the European Council in May 2019 in Sibiu - and civil society to explore the ways that this might be achieved.

On 29th November the Commission launched its second competition DiscoverEU. Until 11th December anyone born in 2000 can enter the competition to try and win one of the 12,000 tickets to travel across Europe in the summer of 2019. The 12,000 tickets are distributed depending on the size of the Member State. The first year this competition was run 15,000 young people born in 1999 were able to travel around Europe.

As part of the digital single market, the new rules addressing unjustified on-line geoblocking started to apply as of 3rd December. Adopted by the EU last February the new regulation enables consumers to have extended cross-border access facilitating the purchase of products sold on-line. People will now be able to shop on-line in the EU without being blocked or redirected. Cross-border purchasers will be treated like local buyers, notably from the point of view of tariffs.

Due to the failure to find agreement on the part of the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission presented a new draft budget for 2019 on 30th November in a bid to come to a compromise. It is putting forward 165 billion euro in commitments and 148 billion in payments. It recalls that the UK will contribute to the EU's budget until 2020.

MEPs defined their position on 29th November on the revision of the Schengen border code, which enables Member States to raise temporary internal border controls in the event of a serious threat to public order or internal security. MEPs hope that the initial period for the temporary measures will be limited to 2 months (instead of 6 months at present) and that they will not be extended beyond a year (instead of 2 at present). They are asking for the introduction of new safeguards regarding extensions in order to guarantee citizens' constitutional freedoms.

On 29th November MEPs asked for an in-depth inquiry into the agents involved in the CumEx scandal, fraud in the purchase and re-sale of shares that cost 11 European countries 55 billion euro, and the extent of which was only recently revealed. They asked for the inquiry to bring to light the loopholes in the coordination between Member States, and invited national authorities to "bring white-collar impunity to an end." They also deem that the European legislative legal framework in this area is not adequate and have asked the Commission to put forward a European framework for cross-border tax investigations, for the creation of a financial information service cell and for an early warning system.

On 28th November the Council adopted a common position on the Capital Market Union and access to long term financing. It came to agreement over a common harmonised framework for covered bonds comprising a regulation and a directive. Covered bonds will have to correspond with harmonised standards across the entire EU which will help make safe investments. The final text will be negotiated as soon as Parliament ahs confirmed its position in the plenary session in December.

On 30th November ministers examined the legislative package on the Cohesion Policy 2021-2027. On the basis of a working document drafted by the Austrian Presidency of the Council ministers gave some political guidelines regarding territorial cooperation and the mid-term programme review. They also discussed the progress achieved in terms of European territorial cohesion. The Cohesion Policy, with a third of the Union's budget, helps investments to reduce socio-economic gaps between European regions.

On 29th and 30th November the ministers responsible for Competitiveness exchanged views on the proposed regulation regarding the Union's space programme, on the governance of the European research area and on the strategy for the EU's future industrial policy. They concluded a partial agreement regarding the implementation of the Horizon Europe programme. They also defined their position regarding regulations governing platforms between businesses and general regulations on vehicle safety.

On 3rd December the Eurogroup said it was pleased with the Commission's budgetary forecasts which provide that no State will have a government deficit over 3% of its GDP in 2019, but it reminds Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain about their draft budgetary plans (DBP) for 2019. Eurogroup supported the Commission's opinion noting a "particularly serious non-compliance" regarding the Council's recommendations about Italy's DBP. Eurogroup noted the positive developments taking place in Greece, Spain and Cyprus. European ministers also discussed at length the reform of the Economic and Monetary Union, notably the Single Resolution Fund backstop, the reform of the European Stability Mechanism and its cooperation with the Commission.

On 28th November the Commission, the European and national authorities, as well as the drone industry adopted the "Amsterdam Declaration on Drones" which sets the foundations of European coordination on the regulation of drones. The Declaration sets priorities: supporting Member States in implementing the European regulation on drones, developing an institutional for the use of drones, investing in research and also in information campaigns.

On 2nd December, regional elections took place in Andalusia that had been held by the PSOE for the last 37 years. Whilst remaining ahead in terms of votes the PSOE experienced its sharpest ever decline (from 47 to 33 seats), especially to the benefit of a new far right party, Vox, which had made its entry into parliament with 12 seats. The People's Party (PP) and Ciudadanos might take the governance of the province but it will have to form a majority by joining forces with Vox (55/109).

On 2nd December the 24th COP (Conference of Parties) started in Katowice in Poland, as part of the Framework Convention of the UN on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The inauguration ceremony took place on 3rd December together with 40 heads of State and Government. For two weeks of negotiations participants will have to come an agreement regarding the action to follow to respect the commitments taken during the COP21 in Paris in 2015, notably maintaining the average level of global warming at 2°C. COP24 will end on 14th December.

The euro zone's inflation rate is estimated at 2% in November 2018, against 2.2% in October according to a rapid estimate by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical office.

On 27th November the Commission presented two new studies showing the importance of exports in terms of employment prospects. Hence the EU's exports help support 36 million jobs in Europe, 14 million of which are occupied by women. This is two-thirds more than in 2000. The highest increases in comparison with 2000 have been noted in Bulgaria (+312%), in Slovakia (+213%) and Portugal (+172%). Both studies show that exports from one member country impact significantly the employment market of the other Member States.

In a report "Beyond the GDP, measuring that counts for economic and social results" published on 27th November, the OECD calls for authorities to look beyond measuring the GDP to define the economic policy to follow. It deems that the answer to the crisis would have been stronger if better metrics had been available.

From 7th December to 7th April 2019, on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the death of Rembrandt, the archives of the city of Amsterdam are showing original documents from the time of the artist. The personal history of the painter is told via these papers, illustrated by works of the collections in the Rijksmuseum and the House of Rembrandt Museum.

Half documentary, half art, the installations by American artist Diana Thater, especially devoted to two endangered species in Kenya - the elephant and the rhinoceros - are the main theme of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao until 18th March 2019.