The pro-European groups voted with a large majority in favour of a resolution, which outlines the key priorities and conditions of the Parliament for the upcoming Brexit negotiations. Even if Parliament itself will not be involved in the negotiations, it has to approve to the final deal in the end.

The AK/ÖGB campaign “Social Rights First!” was a complete success: more than 15,500 people took part in the European Commission’s Consultation on the Pillar of Social Rights. Now it is vital to keep up the pressure and to remind the heads of state and government of their responsibility.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the heads of state and government will meet in Rome on 25 March to discuss Europe's future.

The coming weeks will see the start of the negotiations on the exact specification of the EU transparency register between Commission, European Parliament and Council. Already in September 2016, the Commission had presented its new proposal for a revised transparency register. This week, it was the turn of the European Parliament.

Due to the launch of the report “Benchmarking Working Europe 2017” by ETUI and ETUC, a high-level panel was organised by the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB) the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and AK Europa the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU in Brussels.

In order to avoid taxes, multinational companies like to hide behind complicated elaborate constructions, which consist of an intricate network of several subsidiaries, holdings, foundations and other legal forms – all of it completely within the law. A new EU Directive shall now at least bring transparency to these structures. The country-related breakdown of corporate profits shall clearly show in which countries a company generates how much profit.

Is there a need for reforms, what is done to meet it and which improvements are made? The so-called Reform Barometer 2016, which has been developed by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and which was presented in Brussels at the beginning of March, addresses all these questions.

For all intents and purposes, women and men in the EU have the same rights. At least on paper, as formal equality is confronted with structural imbalances in numerous areas.

Once again, March 8, 2017 was International Women’s Day. It is this day, through which gender fairness and equality attract an unusual amount of attention. Regrettably, these debates are not maintained throughout the rest of the year; looking at the unsatisfactory number of women in managerial positions for example shows the necessity of ongoing commitment.

This week, Commission President Juncker presented the White Paper on the Future of Europe. Its possible contents had already been subject of many discussions and speculations in Brussels prior to its publication. He chose the European Parliament to present the five different scenarios for how the EU could evolve in the future to the public for the first time. However, Juncker did not want to be tied down as to which of these scenarios he himself would prefer.

According to a disillusioned Commission it will take another 70 years until the same work is rewarded with the same pay, if the current efforts are solely maintained. It takes 40 years until housework is fairly shared, 30, until about three quarters of all women in the EU enter the labour market and 20 more years, until women are on equal terms in the political sphere.