This WEEK in the European Union

Details of what the Franco-German economic powerhouse duo want to see will be outlined on Monday in advance of a full EU summit from 8-9 December at the end of the week.

Ahead of the summit, the nigh-on omnipotent European People's Party - the conservative group that now holds the reins of government in all EU countries other than Denmark, Cyprus, Austria, and the UK (although in Austria there is a grand coalition with the centre-right and Britain is ruled by the anti-EU-federalist Tories) - will hold a congress in Marseilles.

A total of 17 EU leaders alongside the head of the European Commission, EU Council President Herman van Rompuy, Spain's Prime minister-elect Mariano Rajoy and Jadranka Kosor, the prime minister of the EU’s 28th member, Croatia, will be welcomed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP).

In a related development, the new Greek technocratic government is due to hold a budget vote in the parliament on Tuesday.

The country saw its seventh general strike this year on Wednesday timed to coincide with the UK public sector strike, although turn-out was substantially down on recent protests, suggesting the government is still enjoying something of a honeymoon period. After the budget is passed, it is an open question how long this will last. While an important step, the budget fundamentally does little to overcome the scale of the country’s debts and a number of economists argue that still deeper austerity will make the situation worse.

While EU leaders are scrambling to save what remains of the single currency project, the rest of the Union machine keeps whirring along.

EU ministers will on Monday decided whether Serbia has done enough to merit being awarded EU candidate status in the context of attempts to normalise relations with Kosovo.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to attend a conference in Bonn on the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan to discuss the state of the Western mission in the country.

Pakistan will stay away however, after a Nato strike killed dozens of its soldiers earlier this week in a case of mistaken identity on the Afghan border.

The UN international climate conference in Durban, South Africa will continue to trundle along, although most commentators do not expect any result as divisions between developing countries and the richer global north are for the most part as firm as they have been since the Copenhagen climate conference that ended in EU ignominy two years ago.

Over in the European Parliament, MEPs on Monday are to vote on funding for the ITER nuclear fusion project. If successful, nuclear fusion could provide an abundance of very cheap, clean energy - the wonder solution to all the world's climate change problems. However, the project has seen multiple cost overruns and the parliament and the Council have come to an agreement on a portion of the sums needed to be funded from the EU budget. Opponents of the plans say too much money has been spent already on the scheme.

MEPs in the Civil Liberties and Employment Committees will also vote on a deal struck with the Council on a single work permit for non-EU nationals giving them the same rights as EU citizens in terms of working conditions, social security and access to public services. If approved, the permit would allow workers access to work and residence rights through a single channel, reducing the bureaucratic hassle.

Eurodeputies will also look at making motorbikes greener, cross-border protection orders, how to solve the situation in the milk sector as the end of milk quotas in Europe is fast approaching while dairy farmers regularly protest in the EU quarter in Brussels.

And the European Commission will adopt a communication on the EU’s future strategy for value-added tax systems on Wednesday and unveil proposals on how to strengthen cross-border co-operation when dealing with extreme health threats such as bird flu, anthrax or even violent weather events on Thursday.

The weekend will also see Russia hold parliamentary elections - an event marred by Moscow's refusal to register the vast majority of opposition parties and by Vladimir Putin's refusal to let in the full complement of international monitors.