Barroso commission finishes this WEEK - Hoofdinhoud

BRUSSELS - A quiet week is kicking off in Brussels, with the outgoing commission meeting for the last time on Wednesday (29 October) and a farewell party for president Jose Manuel Barroso i at the museum of fine arts (Bozar) Monday night.

Incoming commission president Jean-Claude Juncker i will meet Barroso and the new EU council president, Donald Tusk i (although he only takes up his post on 1 December) on Thursday for a last discussion before the new commission begins.

The most contentious inherited dossier is set to be negotiations on an EU-US free trade agreement, where the new commission president has different views to his predecessor, particularly on clauses that allow US companies to sue EU governments in special courts.

The response of EU countries to Ebola remains the prime concern this week, with the new health commissioner and Ebola response coordinator, Christos Stylianides, briefing press on Monday on the issue.

The following day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel i will join the Belgian king and queen for a commemoration in Ypres, where the first battle in World War I was fought 100 years ago.

MEPs are having a quiet week being either in their constituencies or abroad. The two delegations of MEPs who monitored the parliamentary elections in Ukraine and Tunisia will present their conclusions on Monday in Kiev and on Tuesday in Tunis, respectively.

On the council side, ministers of environment are meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday to hold a public debate on a draft law on packaging, and to discuss what the EU's position should be at a UN climate change conference in Peru in December.

Elsewhere in the EU, Romanian voters are heading to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president from 14 candidates who have registered, including centre-right MEP Monica Macovei.

Socialist Prime Minister Victor Ponta is the frontrunner, polling at 36-40 percent, followed by Klaus Iohannis, the Liberal mayor of a Transylvanian town. It is likely that the two will face each other in a run-off on 16 November.