The ambitous plans of the European Commission on the European Green Deal are not least also raising social issues. In order to create a fair path towards a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, the Commission had published a proposal on setting up a Just Transition Fund already in January. The Chamber of Labour has scrutinized the proposal within the scope of its current Position Paper on the Green Deal.

On Thursday, March 5th, 2020, just a few days before the International Women’s Day on March 8th, the Commission published its Gender Equality Strategy. It was presented in Brussels by Helena Dalli, the EU’s first Commissioner for Equality and by Věra Jourová, the Vice President of the European Commission responsible.

Led by AK Lower Austria (NÖ) President Markus Wieser and WK Lower Austria President Sonja Zwazl, Lower Austria’s social partners came to Brussels on 19th and 20th February 2020 to jointly highlight central issues and problem areas before high level representatives of the most important EU institutions and to illustrate the need for action at European level.

The EU Commission commissioned a study on due diligence requirements in supply chains at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL). The long-awaited results were published on 24th February 2020.

In a current study, the European Trade Union Institute analyses the challenges facing the two key sectors of the coal and automobile industry, towards a climate neutral Europe. One thing is clear: a just transition is required to keep the negative impact on the affected workers to a minimum.

By hosting a current event, which took place in Brussels on 3rd February, AK EUROPA, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour, and ÖGB Europabüro, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation, addressed two important topics: platform work and minimum wages.

AK EUROPA, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour and ÖGB Europabüro, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation would like to cordially invite you to our event:

On 27th January, Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni as well as the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, answered questions of the Members of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee as well as of the European Parliament’s Employment Committee.

On 14th January 2020, the EU Commission presented a communication on creating a strong social Europe for a just transition. Also launched on this day was the initial phase of the social partner consultation on the issue of fair minimum wages.

The Mobility Package, which was extremely controversially discussed by the EU institutions since May 2017, is nearing completion. As this Package newly regulates the working and social conditions for HGV and bus drivers as well as market access for transport companies, it could have made a large contribution to the fight against wage and social dumping. However, the agreement of the trilogue negotiations between Council, Parliament and Commission, which was reached on 12th  December 2019, only provides actual improvements for the driving personnel in some points.