On 17th November 2017, the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) had been proclaimed at the Social Summit in Gothenburg. One-and-a-half years after this proclamation and prior to the coming EU elections it is now possible to take stock. On March 28th 2019, discussions on the implementation and an outlook on the future were held in a public hearing in the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.

In his latest book “Rewriting the Rules of the European Economy”, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Joseph Stiglitz develops new ideas for the economic and social policy of the European Union. In doing so he proposes new rules for institutions and politics in the sectors employment, stability and growth.

The implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights is a necessary but not a sufficient step towards a fairer Europe. Therefore, AK EUROPA used this year’s report “Benchmarking Working Europe 2019” as an opportunity to discuss during a joint event hosted with the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB Europabüro), with ETUC, ETUI and political representatives, which steps have to be taken within the EU to put the focus on employees.

Renting is getting increasingly more expensive and risks becoming a luxury good. More and more people in Europe can hardly afford to rent a place to call their home. However, at the same time, rents are rising faster than earnings, which, for many makes the situation even worse. Therefore, AK EUROPE supports the European Citizens’ Initiative “Housing for All”, which was launched on 27 March 2019.

Benchmarking Working Europe puts workers’ concerns at the centre of its analysis and policy proposals. The four chapters tackle the areas of economic growth, labour market changes, wage developments and workers’ participation to provide a comprehensive picture of where we are today in the fight for a more socially equitable and just Europe.

The report is an update of a set of labour market indices first developed and tested in 2010 in collaboration with experts of the Vienna Chamber of Labour (AK). The Austrian labour market is examined relative to the other 27 EU countries (including UK) according to the following key dimensions: overall labour market performance, participation of different groups of peo- ple, exclusion risks on the labour market, distribution of earnings and redistribution by the welfare state.

On 13th March 2019, the EU institutions reached an agreement on new regulations concerning cross-border company relocations in the EU. In this context, a necessary step has also been taken to combat tax avoidance and to safeguard the co-determination rights of employees.