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.

On Wednesday, the European Commission took the first steps to open deficit proceedings against Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Ireland and Latvia. Last year, these Member States ran up budget deficits between 3.2 and 6.3 percent.

On Thursday this week, the great majority of MEPs voted in favour of the initiative report on social economy.

This week, the EU Commission published the first monthly monitoring report on EU employment and social situation and a country comparison study on early childhood education and care in Europe.

Barroso’s patience snaps.Currently, political Brussels is in deep turmoil. Once again, the reason is the financial crisis, which has long developed into an employment crisis. The Portuguese Commission President Barroso causes a stir by warning the member states against national solo attempts to tackle the crisis and threatens to enforce the rules of competition. It becomes increasingly clear that the Commission only inadequately fulfils its coordination and leadership role with regard to overcoming the crisis.

Following 2 years of hard negotiations in the European Parliament and in the Council the path is now clear to impose for the first time sanctions against employers, who provide work for illegal immigrants says Claudio Fava, the parliamentary rapporteur in charge. The final legislative resolution of the MEPs, however, was postponed to March. Reason: Claudio Fava demanded an additional declaration, which does not exclude further legal action, in particular against sub-contractors.

The European Commission this week has presented two Directive proposals, which might be in particularly unpleasant for well-heeled bad sees among tax payers. The objective is to significantly improve cross-border administrative cooperation.

A report of the Commission, published on 3rd February emphasises the importance of social partners in Europe. The structured dialogue between employers’ and labour representatives does not only reduce social inequalities in society, but can also make a major contribution in helping to cushion the effects of the financial crisis.

The foundation for a new cooperation was laid during the latest meeting of EU officials with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Among others, the signed agreements cover the improvements of working conditions of mine workers in China.

The AK welcomes the legislative initiatives of the European Commission on a better reconciliation between professional and family-life. In the opinion of the AK, these initiatives must not be restricted to the Directive on maternity protection but should also include the Parental Leave Directive 96/34/EC and the Equal Treatment Directive 2002/54/EC.