At the end of last year, it was the Commission, which already voiced a demand for more investments. This week, it was the European Parliament, which made the same request during its consultations on the Annual Growth Survey 2017 of the European Commission in Strasbourg. It appears that the Finance Ministers are now the only ones who cannot make their mind up.

 

This week, the European Parliament adopted three reports on the future of the EU only with a slight majority – among those reports was also a joint report on a budgetary capacity for the Eurozone by the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). The proposal for establishing such a budget is as old as the Economic and Monetary Union itself. However, it is experiencing an upswing once again in face of the stability problems of the Eurozone during the crisis.

 

Economic growth for all member states for the first time since 2008, but no improvement for those mostly affected by the crisis

 

Who calls the shots in Brussels? For years, AK and ÖGB together with European partner organisations have been mobilising against the disparity of force with regard to lobbyists in Brussels. This week, the European Parliament once again made its opposition clear. And a new study shows how important the subject matter still is.

 

The European Commission has set out the economic and social priorities of the EU for this year in its Annual Growth Survey (AGS) 2017 and the accompanying documentation. The Bundesarbeitskammer (BAK - Federal Chamber of Labour) is taking this opportunity to take a closer look at some positive key statements made in these documents, as well as some, in our opinion, problematic statements, with the request that these be included in the ongoing discussion.

Last Wednesday, the Budget Committee (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) held a workshop on the “European Fund for Strategic Investments” (EFSI) and its connection to other European investment funds. Representatives of the committees and invited experts of the field discussed the manifold aspects of the field.

 

Last Thursday the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection discussed the service initiative “A service economy that works for Europeans”, presented by the European Commission on 10.01.2017 with the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska.

 

It is a fixed date in the calendar of many in Brussels: the New Year’s Reception hosted by AK EUROPA, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour and the ÖGB Europabüro, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions. Thus, the rooms were well filled by attending guests.

This week, AK EUROPA, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour together with the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions ÖGB, the Chamber of Labour Saarland, the Chambre des Salariés Luxembourg and IG Metall hosted a high calibre panel discussion on the subject of austerity policy.

 

The Eurozone has been in a crisis for more than 8 years now, and the crisis is still unresolved. Those countries hit hardest by the crisis suffer from mass unemployment. In some cases, their per capita income and overall consumption are far below pre-crisis levels, with no rapid improvement in sight.

 

A recent study by Jörg Bibow and Heiner Flassbeck, to be presented in Brussels for the first time, blames the economic policy of the euro area, misguided by mainstream economic theory, for this bleak development.