Today is the last day of the Slovakian six-month presidency of the EU Council that from July 1st will be taken over by France until the end of the year. Tomorrow, in Paris, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Paris’ government will meet the EU Commission. The head of the EU Executive, Barroso, and all the Board will go to Paris. The discussion will be focussed on the programme of the French Presidency, which covers institutional issues (ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and preparation to its enforcement), the revival of the Barcelona Process (summit of July 13th on the Union for the Mediterranean), economic and international politic issues. On July 10th, Sarkozy will submit his programme to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The summit between the EU and South-Africa will be held in Bordeaux on July 25th. The first meeting with the economy and financial ministers (Ecofin), who will have to give their final approval of Slovakia’s accession to the euro-zone, will be held on July 8th. The day before, the European Group, chaired by the Luxembourg-born Jean-Claude Juncker, will meet. As to economic issues, today Eurostat estimated that inflation in the euro-zone will stop at 4% in June (in May it was 3.7%).
