From the workers’ perspective it is very much to be welcomed that all EUregions will continue to receive structural funds in future. All Member States are faced with major socioeconomic challenges for broad sections of the population both in urban and rural areas. These have to be tackled with the support of cohesion policy.

We welcome the engagement ot the BEUC to make a comprehensive contribution concerning the EU-wide situation in respect of fuel poverty within the scope of the meeting of the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) in Ocotber in London.

This week, the plenum of the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg voted on the report on the Green Paper on Pensions. Nobody expected great surprises because the report - not exactly drafted in the interest of workers - was a compromise of all fractions. However, there was a welcome reversal in respect of the delicate issue of linking statutory retirement age to life expectancy. This demand was quashed with a wafer-thin majority of two votes by overall 736 voting MEPs.

The EU institutions have held negotiations with Croatia concerning the country’s accession to the European Union since 2005. The Council would like to conclude the talks with the Croatian representatives during the first half of 2011. However, no date has been set yet when Croatia will finally join the European Union.

It has been planned to amend Article 136 of the Lisbon Treaty as a basis for the creation of a permanent rescue mechanism for the Euro.

Following tough negotiations between Council and European Parliament, the EU Budget for 2011 was adopted this week. This was preceded by the annual theatrical thunder between both EU institutions including the also annually recurring question what would happen if no agreement could be reached. Whilst the public is well informed about the disagreements during the negotiations, hardly any light is shed on the question: what is the EU money used for?

Last week, the Brussels offices of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA) and of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) organised a panel discussion on the subject of “Strengthening Consumer Protection in Financial Services”. During the financial and economic crisis ten thousands of investors in Austria alone lost part of their savings, some of them their entire life savings.

On 8th February 2011, the EU Commission held a conference in connection with the publication of the Single Market Act in October 2010. In his opening statement, José Manuel Barroso emphasised the importance of reforms aimed at job creation. However, the concrete ideas of the Commission remind more of a continuation of the little successful strategy of the Commission from the past.

Time and time again the phenomenon of Sunday soap box oratory appears at European level. European politicians support a certain issue in their home country, but when they have to nail their colours to the mast in Brussels, they often follow other interests and hope that nobody will notice. A prime example this week was delivered by members of the European Parliament. It concerned a very important subject: the European Financial Transaction Tax.

For more than two years, Council and European Parliament have debated a Commission proposal, which made the hair of consumer protection representatives stand on end. Consumers would have been faced with a significant deterioration of their rights. Both Council and European Parliament have defused the Commission proposal in their deliberations. Following the vote in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee in the European Parliament, a mixed picture is now surfacing.