On Tuesday, Werner Langen of the European People’s Party presented 125 Amendment Applications on a Proposal for a Regulation on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories in the Economic and Finance Committee of the European Parliament. The intention is to debate the regulation again mid-April in the Committee and to vote on it in Parliament at the beginning of June.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK) generally welcomes the discussion to strengthen economic governance within the EU. However, from the point of view of the AK, the concrete proposals of the Commission on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the correction of macroeconomic imbalances are not target-oriented in a number of key respects.

The proposal of the EU Commission concerning the intra corporate transfer of third-country nationals has now been on the table for over six months, during which time the Council has held negotiations behind closed doors. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has also prepared a draft opinion and this week even held a very interesting public hearing on the subject.

That is the title of an article by the American economist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman. The plans of an European economic government also seem to be hooked on the idée fixe of competitiveness, associated with wage and government cuts. Austerity measures and the European economic government were the key topics of a conference, which had been organised by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the European Federal of Public Service Unions (EPSU) this week.

The EU institutions have held negotiations with Croatia concerning the country’s accession to the European Union since 2005. The Council would like to conclude the talks with the Croatian representatives during the first half of 2011. However, no date has been set yet when Croatia will finally join the European Union.

It has been planned to amend Article 136 of the Lisbon Treaty as a basis for the creation of a permanent rescue mechanism for the Euro.

2011 will be a decisive year for workers and employees around Europe. This has been one of the main messages during this year’s New Year’s Reception, organized by AK and ÖGB in Brussels.

A public hearing on innovative financing to consolidate the budgets took place in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament at the beginning of the week. Apart from a speech of Commissioner Šemeta, responsible for taxation and customs union, there were three expert lectures on the taxation of the financial sector, the so-called CO² tax and Eurobonds. In particular the debate concerning the taxation of the financial sector was lively as usual.

The AK welcomes the intention of the European Commission to propose the establishment of an EU-wide Insurance Guarantee Scheme.

In view of the experiences with the dramatic developments of the 4th quarter 2008, the AK wonders whether a predominantly ex-ante financed fund represents the adequate solution for preventing a bank run, as in systemic crises the funds would be subject to the same capital market risks as other investors.