Snap elections were called for 2 October after the fall of the government led by Kiril Petkov on 22 June. This is the fourth such election in 18 months. According to the latest opinion poll, the GERB party is in the lead with 28.8% of the vote, followed by the Pursue Change party (18.8%), the Socialist Party (12.7%) and the Russian-speaking Renaisssance party (10.4%).

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In response to rising energy prices, Member States and the European Union have taken measures and developed plans to reduce consumption. The French government announced on 14 September that the increase in electricity and gas prices will be limited to 15% in 2023. In Finland, the Parliament adopted a €10 billion support plan for the electricity sector. In Belgium, the federal and regional governments agreed on 16 September on a series of measures to support households. The Foundation offers you a table to understand the situation. It will be regularly completed, modified and updated.

MEPs on 15 September approved a €5 billion loan to Ukraine to meet the country's urgent funding requirements, and voted in support of the FAST-CARE mechanism which simplifies the conditions for using regional funds for Ukrainian refugees.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on 15 September to reiterate the EU's support for Ukraine and discuss the accession process. On 9 September, Latvian President Egils Levits and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki discussed European support, sanctions against Russia and energy issues with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The European Investment Bank disbursed €500 million to Ukraine on 14 September to meet its short-term priority financing needs and carry out urgent repairs to damaged roads, railways and bridges. This payment is the first instalment of the EU's €1.59 billion emergency response agreed in July.

3 million tonnes of grain were exported from Ukraine in mid-September as a result of the Black Sea Grain initiative, 25% of which was exported to 'low and lower-middle income' countries, including by the UN World Food Programme. 51% of these exports were maize, 25% wheat, 11% sunflower, 6% rapeseed, 5% barley. France and Romania signed an agreement on 12 September to export more grain by land from Ukraine as part of the EU's solidarity corridor policy. The grain will be sent to developing countries, "especially in the Mediterranean".

On 13 September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the Danish and Estonian Defence Ministers, Morten Bødskov and Hanno Pevkur. He thanked both countries for their financial, humanitarian and military support and asked for an increase in the delivery of weapons to the Ukrainian army. On the same day he met with the co-chairs of the international working group on security guarantees for Ukraine, who presented him with their recommendations for future security guarantees for Ukraine, which could serve as the basis for a "Kyiv Security Pact".

Following the discovery of a mass grave, numerous burials, and bodies bearing signs of torture and execution in Izyum, a town recently liberated by the Ukrainian army, EU High Representative Josep Borrell "condemned these atrocities in the strongest possible terms" and called for Russia and its leaders to be held to account. Jan Lipavsky, the Czech Foreign Minister, whose country currently holds the Council presidency, called for the rapid establishment of an international tribunal. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wants to send investigators to the recently liberated east of Ukraine, where more than 400 bodies have been found, to identify the bodies and the causes of death.

On 14 September, the Commission proposed measures to ban all products made with forced labour from the EU market. National authorities in the Member States would be responsible for enforcing the ban and could investigate companies if there is any suspicion of infringement.

On 14 September, the Commission presented several measures to combat rising energy prices. It proposes to reduce electricity consumption by at least 5% during peak hours, to cap the revenues of electricity producers at €180/MWh, to introduce a solidarity contribution on hydrocarbon production companies when their revenues exceed 20% of the average profits of the three years preceding the end of the year, and to reduce the cost of energy.

The Commission proposed on 15 September new cybersecurity rules for products with digital components, as regards their design, development, production and placing on the market.

On 16 September, the Commission presented draft EU legislation on media freedom, which includes, among other things, measures to fight political interference and protect publishing houses and journalists from espionage. It also provides for stable funding of public service media, increased transparency of ownership and an assessment of the impact of mergers in media markets on pluralism and editorial independence.

On 18 September, the Commission proposed to suspend 65% of the funds of three cohesion programmes for Hungary, worth an estimated €7.5 billion, and to ban all contracts with Hungarian governmental institutions, because of the infringement of the rule of law in the country. The decision, which has to be approved by the Council, marks the application of the budgetary conditionality mechanism.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin debated the future of the European Union with MEPs on 13 September. She called for continued EU support for Ukraine and stricter sanctions against Russia. She said that measures against rising energy prices need to be implemented, including investment in renewable energy.

On 13 September, MEPs adopted by 453 votes to 57 with 123 abstentions a position on the zero-deforestation products regulation. European companies will have to ensure that certain products sold in Europe do not come from deforested or degraded land, and that they have been produced with respect for human rights. Financial institutions will also be subject to new requirements to ensure that their activities do not contribute to deforestation. The Parliament now has to negotiate with the Council.

On 14 September, MEPs adopted by 418 votes to 109, with 111 abstentions, a position on the draft legislation that increases the share of renewable energy in overall EU energy consumption to 45% by 2030. They approved by 469 votes to 93, with 82 abstentions, the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which sets energy saving targets for both primary and final consumption. Parliament and Council will now meet to negotiate the final version of the drafts.

On 15 September, MEPs denounced the military exercises conducted by China around Taiwan since August. They call on the Chinese government to avoid any measures that could destabilise regional security, and call on Member States to strengthen their relations with Taiwan.

MEPs gave their support to the European Bauhaus project on 14 September, but called for more visibility, transparency and social and geographical equity. They also called for the project, which combines architecture, design, arts and sciences to foster sustainable development, to be incorporated into future EU legislation.

In a resolution adopted on 15 September, MEPs call for better account to be taken of the specific legal, administrative, linguistic, cultural, socio-economic, environmental, demographic and geographical features of the EU's border regions, and for 0.26% of the cohesion policy budget to be reserved exclusively for the development of these regions.

On 15 September, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the Czech Minister for European Affairs, Mikulas Bek, on behalf of the Council, signed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which imposes new obligations on large online platforms considered as "gatekeepers".

On 15 September, the G7 trade ministers announced their intention to increase pressure on Russia to limit its revenues that are financing the war in Ukraine. In addition, they announced their intention to toughen their current trade policy with China to put an end to a form of "naivety". On 16 September, the conference of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the G7 countries was held in Berlin.

On 14 September, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman Treatment or Punishment (CPT) published a report on the treatment of detainees in police establishments, prisons and psychiatric institutions in several German Länder. It considers that overall, detention conditions have improved since 2015, although there is still room for improvement in terms of informing persons in police custody about their rights, conditions of detainees in solitary confinement, and psychiatric care of detainees.

Following its exclusion from the Council of Europe in March, Russia has not been a party to the European Convention on Human Rights since 16 September. 140 million Russian citizens are therefore deprived of its protection.

Until 22 January 2023, the Musée d'Orsay is hosting an exhibition of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch: a poem of life, love and death. Around one hundred works by this major artist of symbolism are exhibited in collaboration with the Munch Museum in Oslo.

The Reina Sofia Museum is devoting an exhibition to Leonor Serrano Rivas until 27 February 2023. The artist explores natural magic.

The 32nd edition of the Florence Antiques Biennale is taking place in the Palazzo Corsini from 24 September to 2 October. It is the oldest exhibition-market in the world, bringing together the best of fine Italian art, from the Florentine Renaissance to the 20th century, and antique dealers from around the world.

Until 25 September, the Austrian capital is hosting the 16th edition of the Design Week, featuring objects of everyday use, furniture and industrial products. More than 150 retrospectives are being held in the city's various districts, museums and art galleries.

The Tate Modern in London is hosting an exhibition of the work of the Prague-born Slovak artist Maria Bartuszova until 16 April 2023. It is an opportunity to discover numerous abstract sculptures made by the artist and rarely exhibited in the UK.

The 16th edition of the Lyon Biennial, a contemporary art exhibition, is centred on the theme of fragility. 200 artists and creators present works and objects until 31 December.

The 187th Oktoberfest, Bavaria's traditional beer festival, is taking place in Munich until 3 October.

The Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris is devoting an exhibition to the Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov until 15 January 2023. For more than 50 years, this artist has been developing experimental photographic work on social and political subjects.