Since the beginning of this week, it is possible to ask MEPs within the scope of the AK EUROPA campaign “NO 2 ISDS” directly via email or Twitter in various languages to publicly commit against private investment arbitration courts (ISDS), which would give foreign companies unjustified privileges. We therefore once again ask for your support: visit our campaign homepage www.no2isds.eu and contact as many MEPs as possible with only a few clicks!

Join us in asking MEPs directly via Twitter and e-mail to say NO 2 ISDS!

All opponents of the single-member private limited liability company achieved a first important partial victory this week. Almost all political factions in the Employment Committee of the EU Parliament voted with a clear majority against the proposal of the EU Commission. Such a clear outcome could not have been expected some months previously. Only constant pressure, substantiated by strong arguments, made the EU Parliament reconsider.

On 16 June 2015, AK EUROPA, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour in cooperation with ÖGB Europabüro, the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions hosted a panel discussion on the subject of tax policy in the European Union.

This week, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for Tax, Pierre Moscovici presented an action plan against tax avoidance. Over the past years, many corporations operating at multinational level have developed strategies to reduce their tax payments to a minimum by exploiting dubious tax rules - for example within the scope of Double Taxation Agreements. The public interest in some companies’ lack of solidarity triggered by the financial crisis and the publication of secret documents, prompted the Juncker Commission to make tax policy one of its priorities.

Following years of negotiations, the Member States this week agreed on a new EU Data Protection Regulation. Naturally, the Latvian Council Presidency was delighted and concluded that the new Data Protection Regulation, which had been adjusted to the requirements of the digital era, would among other also strengthen the individual rights of citizens. However, the Chief Negotiator for the European Parliament, Jan Philip Albrecht, recalled that in particular with regard to consumer rights and corporate duties, there was still a wide gap between the proposals.

Bombshell in the European Parliament: the vote on the Lange Report should have been taking place in the plenum on Wednesday. However, the long-awaited vote did not happen. Just short of 200 amendments would have to be dealt with, among other relating to the controversial investor-state dispute settelements (ISDS).

The fact that one week after the start of the “NO 2 ISDS” online campaign of AK EUROPA and Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE), more than 32,000 citizens have already taken part in the campaign can surely be called a great success. The vote in the Trade Committee of the European Parliament this week has demonstrated that the fight against special rights to sue for foreign investors within the scope of the planned TTIP free trade agreement is not over by a long shot.

For a long time it appeared as if six Member States had come together to block the controversial proposal by the EU Commission on single-member private limited liability companies (SUP). Austria, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Germany and Hungary had been declared opponents. Yesterday, however, at the Competitiveness Council, where the competent Ministers voted on the proposal, one Member State caved in. Apparently Hungary was the alleged “culprit”, making the so-called general approach of the Council possible.

This week, AK EUROPA and Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE) together with other organisations started an online campaign against the special rights to sue for foreign investors within the scope of the TTIP Free Trade Agreement with the USA. Under the name “NO 2 ISDS” we were already successful last year to alert the Commission concerning the great resentment in the population against private arbitration courts. From ca. 15,000 comments against ISDS to the Commission in total, almost 25,000 were the result of the communication by AK und FOEE.

After the date had been postponed several times, the competent First Vice President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, this week presented his long awaited package on “Better Regulation”. In relation to the documents leaked in advance, parts of the presented proposal could be regarded as defused. This is also a result of the Initiative by AK and ÖGB, which joined forces with other partner organisations in a “Better Regulation Watchdog”.