The AK/ÖGB campaign “Social Rights First!” was a complete success: more than 15,500 people took part in the European Commission’s Consultation on the Pillar of Social Rights. Now it is vital to keep up the pressure and to remind the heads of state and government of their responsibility.

 

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, the heads of state and government will meet in Rome on 25 March to discuss Europe's future.

 

Due to the launch of the report “Benchmarking Working Europe 2017” by ETUI and ETUC, a high-level panel was organised by the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB) the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and AK Europa the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU in Brussels.

 

For all intents and purposes, women and men in the EU have the same rights. At least on paper, as formal equality is confronted with structural imbalances in numerous areas.

 

The Committee on Development in the European Parliament discussed the adoption of an EU flagship initiative on the garment sector. The aim of this initiative is an EU-wide agreement on labour and environmental standards that apply to the entire production process as well as in the supply chain in the garment sector.

 

According to calculations by the OECD, the tax avoidance strategies of multinational groups result in tax deficits of between 100 and 240 billion USD per annum, i.e. between 4% and 10% of annual global corporate tax. That is why the BAK essentially welcomes the draft directiveson the introduction of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, because ultimately these problems can only be addressed effectively through the implementation of a group taxation However, the proposals of the Commission do not go far enough.

Once again, March 8, 2017 was International Women’s Day. It is this day, through which gender fairness and equality attract an unusual amount of attention. Regrettably, these debates are not maintained throughout the rest of the year; looking at the unsatisfactory number of women in managerial positions for example shows the necessity of ongoing commitment.

 

We welcome the proposed inclusion of five new limit values for carcinogens in Annex III to the Directive. However, we wish to note that workers and trade unions, especially at the European level, have been calling for many years for the establishment of binding, EU-wide limit values in the interest of harmonised minimum protection.

According to a disillusioned Commission it will take another 70 years until the same work is rewarded with the same pay, if the current efforts are solely maintained. It takes 40 years until housework is fairly shared, 30, until about three quarters of all women in the EU enter the labour market and 20 more years, until women are on equal terms in the political sphere.

 

The proposal to amend Regulation (EC) 883/2004 was preceded by extensive preparations. Above all three areas of EU legislation for coordination were identified, which require adaptations or new regulations.

Last Thursday the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection discussed the service initiative “A service economy that works for Europeans”, presented by the European Commission on 10.01.2017 with the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Elżbieta Bieńkowska.