On 23rd April 2018, the European Commission presented a Directive for the Protection of Whistleblowers in public authorities and companies. In doing so, the Commission reacted to the long-term demand of civil society organisations and the European Parliament, basing itself also on a recommendation of the Council of Europe. The Commission Proposal comprises a three tier reporting system, feedback obligations for public authorities and companies as well as the reversal of the burden of proof in case of retaliatory measures.

Slowly but surely MEPs are losing their patience. Almost a year ago, in July 2017, the European Parliament had adopted its position on the so-called public Country-by-Country Reporting. The aim was to make it more transparent, in which country multinational corporations generate their profits and how much tax they pay. Since its adoption by MEPs, the ball is now in the corner of the Member States. However, there is little tangible progress as individual countries apply delaying and blocking tactics.

EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans had presented the proposal of the Commission on reviewing the existing EU Transparency Register as early as September 2016. 18 inactive months have passed since then. However, this week, the three institutions have begun to negotiate the new Register at the political level. The initial assessment of the Commission proposal gives a mixed picture. The negotiation process will show whether the other institutions will also follow these proposals.

Brexit is currently a topic intensely discussed at many events in Brussels. However, not much light has been shed so far on the question what impact Brexit will have on workers in the United Kingdom and in the EU. To fill this gap, AK EUROPA and ÖGB Europabüro, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation, dedicated an event to this issue, which took place on 11 April 2018. Participants of the discussion were Prof.

Many standards in UK employment law derive from EU directives. Once they are not protected by EU law any more they are at risk of being diluted or scrapped.

If workers´ rights are not upheld in the UK this could trigger a race to the bottom in EU countries as well. Safeguarding workers´ rights in the UK is therefore a key issue that lies in the common interest of workers on both sides of the Channel.

BAK is taking the liberty with this opinion of involving itself in the work of the Task Force for Subsidiarity, Proportionality and “Doing Less More Efficiently”. According to the announcements made in the Government’s programme, the Austrian Presidency of the Council is also planning to address this matter in detail. Therefore, in the following we would like to make some general comments on the perception of the concept of subsidiarity.

The countdown until the British withdrawal from the EU has started: next week already, half-time for the two-year negotiations on Brexit, which the United Kingdom has launched with her Notification of Withdrawal from 29th March 2017, will be reached. This week (19 March 2018), EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier and UK Brexit Minister David Davis presented - as they both called it - a “decisive step” on the way to a joint legal text for the Withdrawal Bill.

Almost two months after the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets has adopted the two initiative reports on the Position on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Reform of the European Union’s System of own resources, the plenum too has adopted both reports with a large majority on March 14. In doing so, Parliament has underpinned its perspective as to how it imagines the Multiannual Financial Framework post 2021: the EU shall be provided with sufficient funds to enable it to meet future challenges.

The 8th of March is regarded as the day, when women’s politics are in the focus of the public interest. Major and small news magazines alike are readily reporting on the Gender Pay Gap, the work-life balance or on (too) few women in leading positions. However, in 2018 the International Women’s Day is also under the sign of the #MeToo campaign and hence the sexualised violence against women.

Valentine’s Day or maybe rather a political Ash Wednesday? On 14 February 2018, EU Commissioner Günter Oettinger, responsible for Budget und Human Resources, presented the priorities of the Commission for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in Brussels. This shall serve the informal meeting of heads of state and government on 23 February to agree the future of the EU and its finances.