Klaus Iohannis was re-elected President of the Republic of Romania on 24th November. He won 65.88% of the vote against Viorica Dancila in the second round of voting. Turnout totalled 54.46%.

On 20th November the Commission presented its opinions of the draft 2020 budgets of the countries in the euro zone. It warned Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland against the risk of non-alignment with the Stability and Growth Pact. For the first time since 2002 no member of the zone has been the subject of an excessive deficit procedure. The Commission also published Greece's fourth post-programme monitoring report, in which it notes that the draft 2020 budget fulfils the agreed goal of a primary surplus of 3.5% of the GDP with damaging the country's growth.

On 22nd November the Commission published a draft EU-USA agreement on the conformity assessment of industrial goods. The proposal aims to facilitate trade and reduce costs, by enabling export companies to take advantage of the certification of their product by their country of origin only. It focuses in particular on machinery and electric and electronic equipment. The discussion for an agreement is one of the decisions taken by the President of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and American President D. Trump in July 2018.

On 21st November the Council came to agreement for a new civilian mission in Central African Republic as part of the CSDP. The mission plans to support the Central African security forces in their reforms, and to provide strategic advice to the authorities. It will coordinate closely with the EU's military training mission (EUTM RCA), the UN mussion (MINUSCA) as well as the international community. Central African Republic is to become the third country after Mali and Somalia to enjoy the support of the EU's CSDP missions, both military and civilian.

On 21st November the Council met to discuss the progress made in negotiations within the WTO, as well as progress made in its reform process. The Commission laid out its most recent initiatives regarding the Organisation's modernisation and noted the preparations made in view of the 12th ministerial WTO conference that will take place in June 2020 in Kazakhstan. Moreover the Council reviewed EU-US trade relations as well as recent developments in US trade relations with Japan and China, given their impact on European and world economic interests. Finally, the Council debated the implementation of trade agreements and assessed EU-China trade relations.

On 20th and 21st November the chiefs of defence of Europe's armies met as part of the EU Military Committee (EUMC). They debated military operations and missions in the Union - i.e. EUNAVFOR, Sophia and Atalanta, which are part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). They also discussed battle groups and the EU military capabilities with a review of EU-NATO cooperation as well as the security situation in Ukraine. Finally they discussed the most recent developments in terms of digitisation and artificial intelligence and their potential impact on military operations.

Youth and culture ministers, who met on 21st and 22nd November said they wanted to overcome the digital gap among young Europeans, and adapt the education and training of youth workers, according to the specific conditions and requirements of each Member State. They debated the climate and how it might be integrated into youth work. They took resolutions regarding the cultural dimension of sustainable development and adopted conclusions to counter corruption in sport.

Ministers responsible for development met on 25th November to discuss the upcoming World Refugee Forum that will take place on 17th and 18th December in Geneva and were informed of the state of progress in negotiations over the future EU-ACP partnership, in view in the long term of a Cotonou Agreement in 2020. They also exchanged views regarding the future financial architecture for sustainable development following the publication of the report by the Wise Persons Group which aims to put forward measures to maximise the added value of the European financial architecture for development. The EIB and EBRD Presidents also expressed their opinions. Finally the Finnish Presidency said it hoped to adopt the Council's final conclusions on the report by December 2019.

The Council of the European Economic Area (EEA) which met on 19th November, stressed the links created between the societies and the economies of the Member States - the 28, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - and insisted on the importance of EU-EFTA relations - European Free-Trade Association - Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The Council also stressed the importance of protecting the EEA agreement, as well as the functioning of the Single Market post-Brexit. Discussions focused on the development of the Single Market, the environment and the climate, energy, agriculture and finance, as well as the European programmes in the EEA-EFTA countries.

EU and UN representatives took part on 21st November in Brussels in a workshop on the role of women in peace and crisis management operations. Work highlighted the need to improve certain aspects such as recruitment policies and the organisational culture of missions.

The IMF analysed the situation of the financial sector in Malta in reports published on 21st and 22nd November. They notably assessed the risk of money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), the banks' capacity for recovery and the mitigation of failure, as well as banking supervision. In three cases the IMF stresses the progress made since Malta joined the EU but encourages the local authorities to introduce more measures to reduce risks. It submitted recommendations for an improved functioning of the financial services.

The exhibition "Leonardo and the Litta Madonna" is running until 20th February 2020 at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan. The latter notably marks the return to Italy for the first time in 30 years of one of the most famous pieces of work of the State Hermitage Museum.

Until 17th May 2020 the exhibition "The Factory" by contemporary Mexican artist Carlos Amorales is running at the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam. It is the first retrospective of the artist in Europe who has been presenting his work since 1990.

Contemporary British artist Tacita Dean looks at the Sophocles' myths of Antigone and Oedipus in a new light until 23rd February 2020 at the Glyptotek in Copenhagen, via cinematographic installations.

The Fabre Museum of Montpellier is celebrating the 100 years of Pierre Soulages from 27th November to 19th January 2020 with an exhibition that shows his work in a more "intimate, subjective" light.

After Strasbourg and Krakow on 22nd November, Cologne inaugurated its Christmas Market on 25th November. This winter tradition has been taken up in many towns of Europe, for example in Brussels and Valencia as of 29th November and Prague as of the 30th.

Until 16th March 2020 the exhibition "Faire son Temps" by Christian Boltanski is running at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. It is an occasion to rediscover the career path of the French artist since his last exhibition 35 years ago.