The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) is the legal representation of interest for about 3.2 million employees and consumers in Austria. It represents its members in all social, educational, economical and consumer policy matters both at national and Brussels EU level.

The AK welcomes the objectives specified by the Commission in the draft regulation, namely the creation of uniform legal requirements on different types of trading venues for financial instruments, the avoidance of regulatory arbitrage, the provision of more legal certainty and a reduction in the complexity of the Regulation.

The EU Commission has presented a new draft Directive on Energy Efficiency. The energy efficiency target contained therein of 20 % continues to remain non-binding; however, the measures to achieve this target are supposed to be binding. The planned compulsory measures include among other an energy saving target of 1.5 % for energy providers or network operators, as well as a 3 % annual renovation rate for public buildings.

The labour market situation in the European Union is watched on the basis of regularly updated Eurostat- key indicators. In particular the unemployment rate receives special attention and is frequently put on a level with the overall performance of a labour market. However, the unemployment rate merely shifts the attention of policy makers and the public on this one specific, albeit important facet of labour market performance.

The labour market situation in the European Union is watched on the basis of regularly updated Eurostat- key indicators. In particular the unemployment rate receives special attention and is frequently put on a level with the overall performance of a labour market. However, the unemployment rate merely shifts the attention of policy makers and the public on this one specific, albeit important facet of labour market performance.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK) has carefully examined the Commission proposal on the Multiannual Financial Framework from 2014 (Communication: “A budget for Europe 2020” (COM (2011) 500 final) as well as the proposal for a Council Decision on the system of own resources of the European Union (COM (2011) 510 final), both of which were submitted on 29.6.2011.

To begin with, the AK would like to make the point that the Corporate Governance Standards, which are based on voluntary codes of conduct, have significantly contributed to the financial and economic crisis. Companies mainly acted on the principle that everything which is not forbidden is allowed. The lack of legal norms with clear sanctions in case of non-compliance resulted in losses in the billions for companies and in the loss of many thousand jobs.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) and many social institutions and consumer organisations throughout the European Union welcomed the Commission to take legislative action on access to basic banking services for all EU citizens or persons residing in the EU. The Commission has now decided only to give a recommendation instead of taking legislative action. BAK views this step as insufficient and disappointing for many working class people and consumers.

The Commission proposal on the EU budgets 2014 to 2020, which was presented this week, was to a large degree quite disappointing. For a long time, Commission President Barroso had been declaring that his top priorities were the reduction of unemployment and poverty as well as providing better education within the European Union. Now it has transpires that apart from general remarks on the Europe 2020 Strategy no new measures with regard to the EU Budget can be expected.

Last week, the EU Commission and the European Parliament launched the new Joint Transparency Register. In it, lobbyists, as well as advocacy groups and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) provide information on their objectives, budget, personnel and the organisation itself, which can be accessed by the public.