Last week, the European Parliament held a Hearing on Legal Migration to Europe and carefully examined the new Directive proposals of the EU Commission on seasonal work and on the intra corporate transfer of third country nationals. Also discussed were the now available working documents of the rapporteurs on the proposals. There did not seem to be any major opposition among the participants.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour welcomes the initiative of the EU Commission to create mechanisms of collective redress. AK has been pushing for the implementation of such measures in national procedural law for many years.

In the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis, the European Commission has for some time been deliberating about private debts. Under the title “Responsible Lending and Borrowing”, the Commission invited the public to contribute to this subject already back in 2009. In a debate, the European Parliament now concentrated on credit agreements relating to residential property.

In a letter dated 7th April 2011 to EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, the Austrian EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli and the Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour emphasises that due to the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant special regulations for Japanese food products were urgently needed. Irritation was in particular caused by an Implementing Regulation of the European Commission.

On Wednesday, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, presented the final version of the Communication on the Single Market Act. “We believe the Single Market can be one of the most important tools to deliver a new kind of growth – growth and jobs for the European citizens”, declared Barroso. In contrast to the first version in October, the Commission underlined the significance of fundamental social rights.

The European Commission is planning a legislative proposal, which should guarantee the right to a Basic account for all EU citizens. According to an information of the European Commission, currently about 30 million people do not have access to a personal account. This has serious consequences for the people affected, who for example face problems in the labour market, because they cannot specify an account into which their wages can be paid. Apart from that, they have to rely on cash payments instead of being able to use modern means of payment.

The European Commission has been trying for months to make its preferred approach in respect of EU contract law more palatable to the Council and the European Parliament. The Commission does not tire of claiming that the introduction of a 28th contract law in addition to the existing 27 national contract laws was what consumers really wanted. However, as the Chamber of Labour and The European Consumers' Organisation BEUC have explained on several occasions, this approach burdens the consumer with the decision, which contract law should apply.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour would like to draw your attention to the high level of public criticism, which the Implementing Regulation No. 297/2011 of 25 March 2011 has entailed in Austria.

The Commission announces a review of the state aid rules on public services in a new Communication. The text informs that the review would only concern so-called services of general economic interest. According to the Commission, the Member States had a broad margin of discretion as to which services it would cover; however, it mentions in the same breath that competition and trade should not be affected to such a degree that they would act against EU interests. Hence, the questions, which services should continue to be provided and financed by the public sector, remains wide open.

The AK welcomes the intention linked with the PRIPS initiative to increase investor information and consumer protection. The AK is in favour of primarily designing products in a simple and comprehensive manner - and not only the product-related information.