As Christmas approaches, European States are trying to strike a balance between health measures and maintaining business activities and family ties, while trying to coordinate their action. The Foundation offers you a summary of the health measures in place and travel conditions across Europe. An indispensable, regularly updated resource designed to help you understand the situation.

The heads of State and government meeting on 10 and 11 December reached an agreement on the implementation of the conditionality mechanism for the protection of the budget and the recovery plan, thus enabling their deployment. They agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Union by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. They approved sanctions against Turkey in response to its activities in the eastern Mediterranean and will consider further sanctions in March. They invited the Commission to propose a common framework for antigen testing and vaccination certificates against Covid-19. Also meeting in the context of the euro area summit, they called for the rapid implementation of the capital market.

On 9 December, the Commission presented its "sustainable and smart mobility strategy", comprising no less than 82 initiatives to underpin the ecological and digital transformation of European transport within the framework of the Green Deal. The initiatives target 30 million electric cars, the doubling of high-speed rail traffic and the installation of 3 million public electric recharging points by 2030. The transport sector is responsible for 27% of greenhouse gas emissions and is crucial to achieving the EU's climate goals.

Negotiators from the Council and the Parliament agreed on 9 December on the establishment of the Just Transition Fund (JTF), an instrument of the Green Deal with a budget of €17.5 billion. The Fund will be used to finance public investments in renewable energy, micro-enterprises working for energy transition, and innovation in the fields of education and research. The fossil and nuclear energy and tobacco sectors have been excluded however.

The Transport Ministers agreed on 8 December on a mandate to negotiate with the Parliament for the revision of the "Eurovignette" Directive, which aims to make road transport more sustainable through the levying of user charges for heavy goods vehicles. They discussed the strengthening of the Single European Sky and some ministers expressed reservations about the project. 17 countries announced that they would join the European initiative for processors and semiconductor technologies. Portugal presented its programme for the next presidency.

The members of the Association Council between the European Union and Algeria discussed their cooperation on 7 December. The Union wishes to support Algeria in setting up a sustainable economic recovery and integrating environmental issues into its sectoral policies, particularly in the energy sector. Both parties wish to strengthen their cooperation on the return of illegal immigrants and the fight against criminal networks, radicalisation and the financing of terrorism.

The Court of Justice ruled on 8 December that the Posted Workers Directive adopted in 2018, amending the original 1996 directive, does not call into question the freedom to provide services and employment contracts in the Member States. The Court of Justice holds that the directive fulfils the objectives of social protection and the maintenance of a high level of employment and that this treatment does not alter the original contracts concluded by posted workers with their State of origin.

In a report published on 9 December, the Court of Auditors highlights the risk of increased inequalities between Member States following the Covid-19 crisis. The report warns that low public spending in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania or Cyprus could increase the social consequences of the crisis. For the EU, the auditors note that while the proposed recovery plan is an opportunity for more coordination, the challenge for the Union will be to restore or reform its fiscal rules without harming the recovery or debt sustainability.

The European Council appointed Frank Elderson to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank on 10 December. He is currently a member of the executive board of the central bank of the Netherlands and will take up his duties on 15 December for a non-renewable term of office of 8 years. He succeeds Yves Mersch whose term of office expires on 14 December.

On 9 December, the European Space Agency signed a contract with the Thales Aliena Space joint venture to build the Space Rider, a reusable unmanned vehicle, by 2023. This space shuttle will provide the Union with an autonomous space transport system and will be used for scientific and commercial missions.

On 8 December, the OECD published a report on the German economy which forecasts a GDP contraction of 5.5% in 2020 before a rebound of 2.8% in 2021 and 3.3% in 2022. The report praises the strength of Germany's short-time working system, which has helped to limit the rise in the unemployment rate to 1.4% in the second quarter of 2020. The report considers that the government's €130 billion recovery plan is encouraging for the digital and energy transition, but recommends more investment in infrastructure.

The French and German Ministers of Economy, Bruno Le Maire and Peter Altmaier, decided on 11 December to create a joint working group on space. In mid-2021, this group will present a report containing policy recommendations to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of the sector, with priority given to future European launchers.

On 11 December, the Lithuanian Parliament approved the government led by Ingrida Simonyte by 78 votes to 30, with 20 abstentions, and she was subsequently sworn in. The government, comprising 15 ministers, 7 of whom are women, is the product of a coalition between the Homeland Union-Christian Democrats and 2 liberal parties, the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party, which won the parliamentary elections of 11 and 25 October.

On 8 December, the United Kingdom signed a " trade continuity " agreement with Norway and Iceland which is to take over from the existing agreements with the European Union after the transition period on 31 December 2020. Trade in goods between the UK and these two countries represented £20 billion in 2019 and this agreement provides that 95% of goods traded with Norway and 90% of those traded with Iceland will remain exempt from customs duties.

In an "urgent" opinion published on 10 December, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's expert body on constitutional law, found that a decision taken by Ukraine's Constitutional Court challenging a new anti-corruption law was "not based on international law" and that it was "seriously flawed" because of conflicts of interest involving several judges. Following the court's decision at the end of October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, elected on an anti-corruption platform, asked parliament to reform the body and the Venice Commission to issue an urgent opinion.

On 7 December, the OECD published a report on the effects of the Covid-19 virus on pension systems. This risk comes on top of an ageing population and low returns on savings that were already weighing on pensions. The OECD recommends that governments increase assessments to identify risk groups and develop measures to ensure that people in non-standard employment have the opportunity to save for retirement.

Until 25 December as part of the "Prado in the Streets" project, which is travelling around the different cities of Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo is presenting almost 50 real size photographs that reproduce European paintings from the early 12th to the early 20th century which are kept in the Prado Museum in Madrid.