On January 8, the Troika came once again under scrutiny of the European Parliament, or to be precise of the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs. The severe austerity measures made countries, which are monitored by the Troika made up of European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), also slide into a serious social crisis. Hence, the Committee invited critical experts, who were asked to outline the mistakes made by the Troika.

E-book readers send data about your reading behaviour to companies; fitness bracelets measure your pulse and provide health data to third parties... More and more companies are advertising products that are integrated into the internet, thus making our behaviour transparent. These devices allow companies an even more in-depth view of our lives - including creating personality profiles or predicting future behaviour. A study by the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK) is now critically investigating this commercial digital surveillance.

The protection of more than 1.2 million posted workers within Europe was right at the top of the agenda of the meeting of Ministers of Employment and Social Policy this week. After tough negotiations, Member States were able to reach agreement and found a compromise, which shall guarantee that control measures can be carried out in future, which will help Member States to uncover illegal postings.

In the European Union, about 60 million people over 18 do not have a personal bank account. This has negative consequences for the people affected as an account is often a requirement for getting a job or for signing a tenement agreement. Apart from that, paying bills without having an account is, due to high bank charges, a pretty expensive matter.

On Thursday 5 December 2013, the European Commission took stock as regards to the progress made concerning the implementation of its so-called “Action Plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion”. Algirdas Šemeta, European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, had presented the Action Plan in question a year earlier. An ambitious plan by all means but what if anything has been implemented so far?

During the last months, the planned Free Trade Agreement of the EU with the United States has definitely been causing a stir. Labour and non-governmental organisations have drawn attention to the lack of transparency concerning the negotiations itself and a number of planned regulations, which might have a negative impact on employees and society as a whole. In a new press release, however, the Commission is now daring to make a prognosis to the effect that free trade agreements might have positive effects on the labour market.

On 25.11.2013, the European Commission presented a proposal on revising the Directive on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different EU Member States. According to the competent Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta, the objective is to put a stop to systematic tax avoidance by companies operating on a multinational level.

It is a well-known fact that apart from considerable employment effects, investments in childcare also generate significant additional income for the public sector. The European Parliament used this realisation as an opportunity to discuss the subject of care facilities for children in a public hearing and to emphasise its significance also in respect of meeting the targets of the European Union.

Everybody speaks about the “Internship Generation”. Now, the EUROBAROMETER has conducted an empirical study to analyse the situation of interns. At the same time, the Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Arbeitswelt (FORBA), a non-profit making research institute, published a study commissioned by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs, which assesses the Austrian situation of interns.

At a hearing this week in the Human Rights Committee of the European Parliament, representatives of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), non-governmental organisations and MEPs discussed the effects the Free Trade Agreement of the EU with Columbia would have on the human rights situation. For the first time in the history of trade agreements, a roadmap was agreed with the negotiating partners, which shall see to it that human rights are improved. However, in spite of this additional agreement, the speakers so far have not been able to identify any significant actual progress.