The European Semester serves to coordinate the economic and social policy agendas of the Member States along agreed rules. The recent crises also led to adjustments in the Semester process. Overall, there is a need for comprehensive reform and greater involvement of the social partners, civil society organisations and parliaments. This was also underlined by the European Economic and Social Committee in its recently adopted opinion.

Jointly with other organisations working for digital rights of patients, healthcare professionals, consumers, workers and trade unions  in the European Health Data Area, AK EUROPA has addressed Members of the EU Parliament in an open letter. The letter urges MEPs to prioritise fundamental rights of European patients in the digitalisation of health systems and, in particular, to include consent requirements for the use of data. The current proposal threatens to deny patients control over the sharing of their medical data and its commercial exploitation.

The Benchmarking Working Europe Report 2023 highlights social vulnerabilities and challenges in Europe. The EU is currently trying to manage four transitions simultaneously, with conflicting goals and limited vision. However, a transformative and ambitious social transition is needed to break the current crisis cycle. Researchers from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and representatives from the European Commission and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) discussed this on the occasion of the publication of the report.

Digitalisation is advancing rapidly in all areas of society and does not stop at the health sector. The European Commission's proposal for a European Health Data Space promises simplifications and improvements but raises serious concerns among many stakeholders about the consideration of fundamental rights, privacy and autonomy of patients and its feasibility.

It has been proven that women suffer the most from the sharp increase in prices. When already vulnerable population groups are forced to choose between heating and eating, politics must act. High energy costs in particular exacerbate existing inequalities between men and women. This is why the EU Parliament has taken up this issue on this year's International Women's Day.

Upon the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (ESSR), a report on the future of social protection and the welfare state was prepared by a high-level expert group on behalf of EU Social Affairs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit. The report makes 21 concrete recommendations for future initiatives on how the EU can respond in an inclusive and sustainable way to longer-term trends such as demographic change, globalisation, new forms of work and the digital and green transition.

For better comprehensibility, comparability and transparency, in the future companies will have to disclose sustainability information on the basis of new uniform EU reporting standards. The aim, among others, is to raise the awareness of corporate management regarding their social and ecological responsibility. AK welcomes the improvements; however, they must not be watered down in the current implementation process.

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Brussels offices of the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB Europabüro) are pleased to invite you again jointly to the launch of this year’s Benchmarking Working Europe report.

On 13 February 2023, the European Commission proposed a new approach to protect workers. The EU-Commission wants to make workplaces healthier and safer by lowering the limits for lead and diisocyanates.

The Brussels offices of the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA) and the Austrian Trade Union Confederation (ÖGB Europabüro), as well as the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), cordially invite you to our joint webinar "The European Health Data Space: a risk or an opportunity?”.