A representative survey commissioned by AK Vienna and Greenpeace shows: Consumers in Austria are aware of the downsides of fashion consumption in principle. However, their purchasing behaviour lags behind this awareness. Last but not least, production and trade must also rethink. This requires clear rules. AK and Greenpeace advocate, among other, a legal ban on the destruction of new goods and a strong EU supply chain law.

2023 promises a high level of tension in the area of trade policy for various reasons. First and foremost, there are final negotiations on numerous trade agreements, which are to be observed critically, especially from the perspective of sustainability. The potential acceleration of the entry into force of already concluded trade agreements by splitting off the investment part is also explosive from a democratic policy perspective.

The EU Commission has already presented its proposal for the implementation of the global corporate minimum tax in 2021. All EU member states have now finally pledged their support for the declaration. The necessary unanimity could thus finally be achieved after repeated vetoes by Hungary. From AK's point of view, it is a step in the right direction, which, however, must be followed by others.

With its September 2022 proposal to ban products made with forced labour, the Commission is addressing an important issue. The number of people working in forced labour worldwide are dramatic and require urgent action. However, in order to effectively combat forced labour, the Commission's proposal does not go far enough and needs to be improved, as a new AK EUROPA position paper shows.

After the EU Commission presented a proposal for a Single Market Emergency Instrument on 19 September 2022, trade unions and AK showed concern in their immediate reactions about the potential weakening of labour and social law provisions through the project. In particular, the threat to the right to strike was repeatedly highlighted in a negative light. A more detailed analysis by the AK now underlines this criticism and at the same time contains specific demands to the European decision-makers.

On behalf of the Brussels offices of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA), we would like to invite you to our joint event "Due Diligence Directive - Law without teeth or effective human rights protection?".

The proposed Regulation presented by the Commission in September 2022 aims to prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market. According to recent ILO estimates around 28 million people worldwide work in forced labour, including more than 3 million children.

For years now, the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK) has been drawing attention to the lack of concepts for tackling crises in the single market. Therefore, deliberations on how to address crisis situations at the EU level, which are also the basis of the Commission's emergency instrument (SMEI), are generally to be welcomed. However, AK firmly rejects legal regulations that could lead to a restriction of the right to strike or of labour and social law provisions, as can be inferred from the texts on SMEI.

On 8 December 2022, ministers of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council were able to make progress regarding important issues concerning the European Pillar of Social Rights – for example in the fight against asbestos at the workplace or in respect of long-term care. However, the Council has not been able to adopt a common position for platform work. But there was positive news regarding this issue from the EU Parliament, where the Employment Committee adopted its report on 12 December 2022.

Inflation in the European Union is still rising and at 11.5 % in October 2022. By that, it has climbed to a new record level. However, there are substantial differences between individual Member States. Whilst the inflation rate calculated by Eurostat, is only 7.1 % in France, it is Estonia at a rate of 22.5 % which shows the highest value. Austria, at an inflation rate of 11.5 % in October 2022, is exactly average. The reasons for these differences are manifold and not always easy to explain.