Merkel in search of government deal this WEEK

“We have elections in the EU regularly and we also have a plan on what we are going to do next,” she said on Friday.

On Sunday, representatives from the commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - the so-called Troika - arrived in Greece once more to oversee the country's reform programme.

The country needs a successful audit by the international lenders to see a pay out of €1 billion next month.

EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and a handful of commissioners will be are heading to New York city.

On Monday, Barroso is set to address the United Nations General Assembly where he will discuss the UN millennium development goals and sustainable development.

Back in Brussels, policy and communication announcements are on the light side.

Internal market commissioner Michel Barnier on Monday will launch an "EU Single Market Month" where the public can debate online with EU policy makers and leaders on issues like jobs, social rights, banks, and e-commerce.

On Wednesday, EU telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes and EU education commissioner Androulla Vassiliou will launch a joint communication on education for a better skilled workforce.

Industry commissioner Antonio Tajani, on the same day, is set to publish his annual report on competitiveness in the EU.

The European Parliament, for its part, is set to hold a number of debates and votes.

Euro-deputies in the economic and monetary affairs committee on Monday will face off with European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi where they will discuss EU recovery and a resolution system for troubled banks.

The German Bundesbank said the system might not be so effective.

It noted that the banking union, composed of a single supervisor for the eurozone's 150 largest banks and a new agency deciding what banks should be closed down and who should pay for it, “is not going to solve the crisis on its own.”

On Tuesday, the same committee will also debate the European Stability Mechanism with its managing director Klaus Regling.

The civil liberties committee will hold its third meeting on Tuesday into the surveillance of EU citizens by the US intelligence agency NSA.

MEPs will look into allegations that the NSA tapped into Swift, the global interbank transfer network database.

Belgian Liberal MEP Guy Verhofstad, along with Dutch liberal MEP Sophie in t'Veld and German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht, have called on the commission to suspend the EU-US terrorist financial tracking programme (TFTP) agreement following press reports that the NSA secretly plundered Swift for data.

Wednesday will see MEPs in the environment committee vote on two EU legislative policies.

Deputies will vote on increasing safety standards and regulation on medical devices in reaction to the PIP breast implant and "metal on metal" hip implant scandals.

They will also vote on safety rules on in-vitro medical devices.