This WEEK in the European Union

This week will start on a highly charged note as the UN deadline for a negotiated settlement on the future status of Kosovo expires on Monday.

After months of negotiations both sides have failed to reach an agreement on the breakaway Serbian province, with Kosovars pushing for full independence and Serbia only willing to grant it limited autonomy.

The EU is watching with nervousness over the volatile region with member states themselves split on what to do if Kosovo declares unilateral independence, as it has threatened to do in the near future, without a UN security council mandate.

Behind the scenes the EU is hoping to persuade Kosovo not to make any rash moves and to involve the 27 nation bloc in every step of the process.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the EU is to sign off its new Reform Treaty in Portugal's capital Lisbon. The document, several years in the making, introduces an EU foreign minister, a long-term president of the EU as well as making decision-making easier in the bloc by reducing the areas where unanimity is require.

The treaty, similar to the EU constitution that was blocked two years ago by French and Dutch voters, needs to be ratified by all member states before it can come into force, probably in early 2009.

In a move condemned by green organisations for being unnecessarily damaging to the environment, EU leaders after the treaty signing ceremony will then fly back to Brussels for their traditional end-of-year summit taking place on Friday.

This summit is set to deal with Kosovo, a justice and home affairs package as well as look at France's plans for an expert group to look into the future of Europe.

The so-called wise group, first mooted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy as a gathering of 12 personalities to look at the future of Europe, including its geographical borders, has in the meantime had its remit sharply narrowed.

According to a recent report in the Financial Times, the group will not look at the EU's future borders, nor will it look at the EU's institutional set-up, current policy or the next budget.

Mr Sarkozy had wanted the group to focus on further enlargement of the EU with many fearing it was a pretext to focus on Turkey, with the French president firm opponent of Ankara's EU membership bid.

EU foreign ministers meeting at the beginning of the week will further work on the group's mandate, which is to be made public on 14 December at the summit.

MEPs will gather in Strasbourg for the last plenary session of this year with the most high profile issue likely to be its symbolic approval of the EU's charter of fundamental rights.

On Wednesday, the presidents of the European parliament, commission and council will formally proclaim the 54-article charter which sets out citizens rights and is part of the EU's new reform treaty. MEPs were moved to give some publicity to the document after the UK and then Poland decided to opt out of its provisions.

MEPs will the same day also debate the issue of extremism in Europe and how it can be fought as well as discuss the end-of-week summit.

On Tuesday, the European Commission will publish its annual assessment of how member states are making progress on the economic goals that are meant to contribute to making the EU more competitive.

At the end of the week, the UN climate change conference on the Indonesian Island of Bali will wrap up. For its part, the EU will push other countries to agree to open negotiations on a new climate change treaty to replace the current Kyoto Treaty, which runs out in 2012.