Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius, chairing the ECOFIN Council, presented the EU experience on improving access to funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and thus fostering financing for long-term investment.

Parliament passed three separate resolutions on Thursday, condemning violence and persecution against Christians in Syria, Pakistan and Iran, calling for protection for journalists and free access to the internet in Sudan and condemning acts of terrorism and sectarian violence in Iraq.

Senegalese president Macky Sall praised the European Union as a source of inspiration and hope during a visit to the European Parliament on Wednesday 9 October. In his speech to MEPs, Mr Sall, who has been president since April 2012, also expressed his faith in the benefits of Africa and Europe working together.

China is one of Europe's most important economic partners with trade worth more than €1 billion a day. The country's is the EU's biggest source of imports and in 2012 alone it shipped €289.7 billion worth of goods to the EU. MEPs discuss on Tuesday 8 October negotiations for an upcoming investment agreement, that could help create oportunities for European companies and attract billions of euros of investment to Europe. Find out more about it in our infographic.

A new investment agreement with China could help create opportunities for European companies and unlock billions of euros' worth of investment in Europe. On 8 October MEPs will discuss the negotiations for this new agreement. We talked to Helmut Scholz, a German member of the GUE NGL group who wrote the resolution, and Crescenzio Rivellini, an Italian member of the EPP group, about the benefits and challenges of this new agreement.

EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers will discuss in Luxembourg on October 7–8 key issues of data protection, fight against euro counterfeiting, free movement of persons, Syria refugee crisis and the sea tragedy outside of Lampedusa.

The EU and its member states should guarantee Syrian refugees safe entry to the EU and access to fair asylum procedures, says the Civil Liberties Committee in a resolution voted on Thursday. It calls on the EU to go on providing humanitarian aid and support and on Syria's neighboring countries to keep their borders open. Over 2 million refugees, 76% of whom are women and children, have now fled Syria.

On 3-4 October the UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development will convene in New York. For the second time in history, it will bring together policy makers and practitioners from around the world to reflect on a bolder approach to migration and development. European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, will represent the EU at this meeting and give a keynote speech on migration and the post-2015 development framework and on how global efforts can be better suited to new realities, with ever-growing international mobility.

The government of the United States has begun a partial shutdown because the two houses of Congress failed to agree on a budget.

The Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council is enhancing its role in development of leadership capabilities at the EU missions and operations within the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), said major-general Jonas Vytautas Žukas, Lithuanian Military Representative to NATO and EU, at the opening ceremony of the EU senior mission leaders' course on September 29 in Brussels.