The AK sees absolutely no necessity in simplifying accounting methods. Companies - including small and medium-sized enterprises - have to carry out relevant bookkeeping in any case. A simplification does therefore not have any benefits.

Presentation of Jean-Pierre De Laet on the occasion of the panel discussion "Who pays for the crisis? Is the EU ready for bank levies, bonus taxes & financial transaction taxes?" by AK EUROPA and ÖGB Europabüro on the 14th of April 2010 in Brussels.

After Latvia and Hungary, Rumania is now the third EU Member to be taken under the wings of the International Monetary Fund. Whilst the heads of state and government demand that the role of the IMF with respect to the future global financial regulation is enhanced, its recipes for tackling the crisis remain as controversial as ever.

For some time, the report of a high level group of experts - the so-called la Rosìere Group -, which had been commissioned by Commission President Barroso, was eagerly awaited in Brussels. Its mandate: What should financial regulation in Europe look like in future?

They had been expected for a long time - now they have arrived. The European Commission this week published a Communication containing regulations for so-called “Bad Banks”. These are institutes to be established by the state in order to buy toxic assets from the banks. Using taxpayers’ money.

The financial and economic crisis has hit the car industry with full force. In the last quarter of 2008 new car registrations in Europe declined by an average of 20 %. With regard to managing the crisis, the EU now puts the ball firmly back in the corner of the industry, thereby restricting its role to supervising the industry’s adherence to the regulations of the internal market and the competition law.

China reports an import decline of 43.1 % in January 2009; exports had shrunk by 17.5 %. Most Asiatic countries are faced with a similar bleak state of affairs. The situation in the EU is still slightly better: in December imports were down by 7.8 %, exports fell by 0.9 %.

A new economic study of the European Commission takes stock of the EU enlargement. The assessment of the European Commission is highly positive; it is, however, only restricted to economic key figures.

Securing employment by stabilising the macroeconomic demand must currently be the most important task of economic policy. Fiscal policy has to let the automatic stabilisers take full effect. Additional measures have to be brought in to stimulate both private consumption and investments. Budget consolidation must - while the crisis lasts - take a backseat.

Loss of income, precarious employment and working conditions, decline in quality in respect of labour intensive services: these are the first results of a study on privatising public services commissioned by the Commission.