EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wanted to try the soft approach when she started the initiative on a voluntary commitment for more women on company boards of listed companies exactly a year ago. The result is sobering. Just 24 companies in the whole of Europe have signed the voluntary commitment, not one of them comes from Austria. Hence, the time has come to bring bigger guns into play, and Reding threatens the introduction of a statutory EU-wide quota for women as a last resort. However, it will be some time until this comes into fruition.

A public hearing at the Legal Affairs Committee has started the consultation on a common European Sales Law in the European Parliament. The Commission proposal has been criticised and rejected by a broad majority both by consumer and business organisations. A significant deterioration of the level of consumer protection and a high degree of legal uncertainty are major concerns. AK EUROPA has already commented accordingly - see the link at the end of the article.

Tax policy under a Common Currency was at the centre of lectures and discussions of the Brussels Tax Forum 2012. In view of the crisis phenomena, one of the main questions was which contribution tax policy would be able to make in order to stimulate growth and employment. In particular a shift from taxes on income to less distorting forms of tax was discussed. The options of more tax coordination were also on the agenda.

The lack of openness concerning the negotiations in respect of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which attracted harsh criticism, shall now be replaced by a transparency offensive by the European Parliament. Accompanied by the lively participation of interested citizens, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and experts presented their assessments in respect of the impact of the controversial agreement in a workshop on 1 March. Many experts are still concerned about the vague provisions of the agreement text.

It may be described as a small miracle and celebrated as a big success that the EU Commission in one of the currently most important strategy papers, the White Paper on Pensions, regards the “dependency ratio calculator”, which was developed by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour, as a crucial Instrument in the debate on the financial sustainability of pension systems.

The measures for stronger economic policy coordination or economic governance, which the EU has come up with in response to the crisis, are based on two key issues: the reduction of public deficits and the early identification of macroeconomic imbalances. According to the EU Commission, the initiative for the latter shall now be provided by the first so-called ‘Alert Mechanism Report’ on macroeconomic imbalances, which was presented on Wednesday.

Many local authorities within the European Union award services of general interest such as the maintenance of road infrastructure, health services or refuse collection to third parties. Which rules shall apply to the so-called service concessions has now been defined by the European Commission in the European Parliament. However, giving their initial reaction, several MEPs voiced their concern that the proposal was now so complex, that many - in particular smaller - communities would find it difficult to cope with tendering these services.

The EU Commission regards ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) as an important step towards enforcing intellectual property rights also outside the Union. In contrast, many critics warn against massive restrictions on the liberty of Internet users, which the Agreement might entail. Whilst public protests have already prompted some governments to halt the ratification process of the Agreement, the Commission rejects the criticism of ACTA.

The discussion on a Financial Transaction Tax in the EU has been given new impetus. In a letter to the Danish Presidency, the finance ministers of nine Member States, among them Austria, have demanded the speedy implementation of an EU Financial Transaction Tax. The debates in respect of a tax on financial transactions are also at full swing in the European Parliament. On Monday, experts presented the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs with their assessments concerning a possible implementation of the tax, its impact on the economy and the distribution of the tax burden.

In the midst of the serious EU financial and economic crisis, the EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski shocks with new information, this time concerning the EU budget: due to their self-imposed austerity packages, the Member States are desperately looking for funds to stimulate their economies again. The problem: based on the multiannual financial framework of the EU, there are theoretically billions available for investments at structural or social level.