The first meeting of its kind, this ministerial troïka between the European Union (EU) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) marks a new stage in the development of EU relations with the African regional economic communities.

The topic, the passage from national memory to collective memory, will soon bring together the EU ministers with responsibility for war veterans.

From 8 November to 15 December 2008 the French embassy in Portugal is opening its doors to host a contemporary art exhibition open to the public, as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Temps d'Images festival.

The Etats Généraux Culturels Méditerranéens in Marseilles on 4 and 5 November is one of the events organised by the French EU Presidency as part of the Year of Euro-Mediterranean Intercultural Dialogue 2008. It will also be an opportunity to reaffirm, on the heels of the foreign ministers' meeting for the Union for the Mediterranean, the vital importance of culture in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

The ‘Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean’ ministerial conference, held in Marseilles from 3-4 November and co-chaired by the French and Egyptian foreign affairs ministers, Bernard Kouchner and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, ended in an overall agreement which made the ambition for a reinforced Mediterranean-focused partnership, as expressed in Paris on 13 July at the Summit of Heads of State or Government, a reality.

Prior to the ‘Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean’ ministerial conference, the foreign affairs ministers of the EU Member States, along with Javier Solana, the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Commissioner for External Relations, at the invitation of Bernard Kouchner, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, met on 3 November in Marseilles, on the eve of the US presidential elections, to finalise their plans for establishing a balanced, closer cooperation with the United States.

From 2 to 4 November 2008, the French Senate will host the 40th meeting of the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC).

Under the French Presidency of the Council the European Union, a short film from each of the 27 EU Member State is currently being broadcast on Eurochannel.

Under the aegis of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, following the meeting with his 26 EU counterparts on 1 and 2 October in Deauville, Hervé Morin, the French defence minister, opened the high-level conference on European defence capabilities in Marseille on 31 October 2008.

Coordination SUD is inviting national NGO platforms from 90 countries to participate in the "World Views on Europe" conference, which it is organising in the context of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The French Presidency is calling a second intergovernmental accession conference with Croatia on 30 October 2008, following the first conference which took place on 25 July and marked the first important step in accession negotiations with Croatia.

A high-level conference on European defence will discuss the resources - personnel, equipment, organisation - required for its missions.

Rama Yade, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, chaired a ministerial meeting in Paris on 29 October 2008 with the European Troika and Australia. The European Commission and General Secretariat of the Council was represented by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations, and Robert Cooper, Director-General for External Relations at the General Secretariat of the Council. Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith represented Australia.