The far-reaching plans of the responsible EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta to tackle tax evasion and avoidance are running the risk of being watered down. The Expert Group of the Commission’s DG TAXUD, which is in charge, largely consists of corporate representatives and their advisors, who are well known for tax avoidance. An evaluation of the Expert Group does not seem to change anything, but there is still hope.

On 4 February 2014, a debate on the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), which had been organised at short notice, took place in the plenum of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, and Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek Finance Minister, reinforced the possibility of reaching an agreement before the European elections in May 2014. An EU-wide coalition of trade unions, NGOs and political parties, in which AK & ÖGB played a crucial role, has been fighting for the Financial Transaction Tax for a number of years.

After almost four years of negotiations, uniform and EU-wide regulations have been adopted for seasonal workers, who are third country nationals. This week, the European Parliament voted on the compromise negotiated with the Council, thereby preparing the way for its imminent national implementation. The objective of the regulations for the ca. 100,000 seasonal workers, who come to Europe each year in order to work, is to protect these against exploitation and unacceptable working conditions.

From the AK’s point of view, a revision of air passenger rights has long been overdue. However, in many cases the proposals of the European Commission had meant deterioration for air passengers rather than necessary improvements. Yesterday, the European Parliament plenary session voted on the Commission proposal, which had been revised in the Transport Committee.

The proposal is for a Regulation that regulates emission values, the type approval and the market surveillance of internal combustion engines in non-road machinery and equipment. The key point of the proposal is the specification of a new emission level (“Stage V”), which, depending on the engine category, will come into force between 2018 and 2021 for type approval and placing on the internal market. n general, the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) welcomes the Commission’s long overdue proposal for a Regulation.

On 21st January 2014, the Report on Employment and Social Developments was presented in Brussels by László Andor, the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The report documents the dramatic impact of the austerity policy on the social situation of employees in Europe. However, the Commissioner himself did not hold back with a certain amount of criticism for this policy and demonstrated that even within the European Commission not everybody sings from the same hymn sheet.

The EU Commission concludes in a recently published report that 13 years after the adoption of the groundbreaking Equality Directives all Member States have transposed the provisions of the European Union against any form of discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation into a single national act. However, in practice a rigorous application of these legal provisions is still faced with some obstacles.

Since Bulgarians and Romanians have been granted full access to the EU labour market on 1st January 2014, the terms ‘social tourism’ and ‘poverty immigration’ have been on everybody’ lips. Based on the fundamental right of free movement of persons, the EU grants its citizens the option of living, working or studying anywhere in the European Union. The allegation that the right of free movement of persons would now encourage Bulgarians and Romanians to scrounge benefits in other countries, as claimed by some politicians, triggered a heated debate throughout the EU.

As already reported on several occasions, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament is currently reviewing the role of the so-called “Troika” (Commission, ECB, IMF) with regard to implementing the drastic austerity programmes in those Member States, which required financial aid from their European partners during the crisis. Having heard the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Policy Olli Rehn, the former President of the ECB Jean-Claude Trichet and ESM Director Klaus Regling over the past few days, MEPs now want to draw political conclusions.

On January 8, 2014, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) published the current unemployment figures in the EU Member States. However, it did not come as a surprise that Eurostat was unable to present any positive developments. On the contrary, it once again became clear that the European states are in a deep social crisis. The drastic austerity measures prescribed are obviously not an effective way out of the misery.