This WEEK in the European Union

After the traditional lengthy summer break when the EU capital all but grinds to a halt, parliament committee meetings and a 'stocktaking' seminar for EU commissioners are among the first signs that bureaucratic and political life is returning to Brussels.

EU commissioners will meet on the outskirts of Brussels for a two-day seminar beginning Wednesday to discuss the events that have shaped the summer.

The biggest issues have been the floods in Pakistan which have so far seen the EU and its member states raise €220 million for the devastated country. The union is now looking towards a longer term plan for the country, with security a high concern. There are fears that radical groups could sway a population disenchanted with the weak government in Islamabad. But the European Commission has suggested that preferential trade access will be linked to democratic reform - something that has already been called into question by Germany.

The other main topic over the summer has been France's controversial policy towards Roma people, including the dismantling of their camps - up to 300 in total - and the deportation of Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria. The policy, which has attracted opprobrium from NGOs, human rights groups, religious figures and a cross-section of French politicians, has seen a flat-footed response from the commission.

While insisting that the basic needs to make the lives of Roma better, such as access to eduction and health care, is something for member states, Brussels has nevertheless failed to convince critics that it is ensuring that France is correctly implementing EU law - which says that such expulsions must be proportionate and carried out on a case-by-case basis.

Apart from an after-summer get-together, the seminar will also give the commissioners a chance to take stock of the executive's first six months in office - a period that has seen Europe rocked by the economic crisis and the commission struggle to make its mark as member states and the EU council president Herman Van Rompuy jostled to find a suitable response to the crisis.

The European Parliament has also been cranking into gear as MEPs start to make their voices heard on the summers' top issues.

Shortly back from a trip to Pakistan, aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva will on Tuesday appear before MEPs in the development committee to brief them on the situation in the country while the civil liberties and women's rights committees will on Thursday jointly hold an initial vote on a draft law to broaden minimum criminal sanctions for human trafficking.

MEPs in the legal affairs committee will discuss legislation to adapt the EU's internal staff rules in order to accommodate the new diplomatic service, a new body that will eventually run to several thousand and include staff from the commission, the council secretariat and national diplomats. The changing of the staff rules is one of two issues that have to be agreed by MEPs in order for the service to be up and running. The other is the budget.

The new Polish president, Bronisław Komorowski, will kick off a European tour with a visit to Brussels on Wednesday where he will meet the heads of the EU's three main institutions as well as Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He will then travel on to Paris to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy before meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of the week.