From 4 to 12 November, the hearings of the 26 designated commissioners took place in the relevant committees of the EU Parliament. Many candidates presented well, some shone with detail or humour, few were controversial. Beside Olivér Várhelyi from Hungary and Raffaele Fitto from Italy, these included also Teresa Rodríguez from Spain. In the end, the political groups were not yet able to find an agreement, but the date for the plenary vote at the end of November will not be changed for the time being.

While the focus at the beginning of the new EU legislative period is on competitiveness, the single market and defence, AK EUROPA is presenting a List of Demands for a bright future for the EU from the perspective of employees and consumers. Their interests must not be neglected, especially in view of the immense challenges currently facing the EU, and social balance must be at the heart of EU policy. The catalogue of 35 demands contains numerous specific policy recommendations.

AK is committed to putting the social dimension of the EU centre stage at the beginning of the EU legislative period. Over the next five years, continued efforts are needed to put the principles of The European Pillar of Social Rights into practice. The “A Pillar for our Rights” project and the AK EUROPA List of Demands provide impetus for a social Europe.

The Social Convergence Framework (SCF) has been created as a tool to map and compare employment and social policy developments in EU Member States in a structured way. It should help to identify countries with a particular need for action. However, further steps are needed to ensure that social objectives are adequately taken into account.

The ECJ ruling from 10 September 2024 on Ireland's tax breaks for Apple ends years of litigation between Apple, Ireland and the EU Commission. This has resulted in a significant win for EU citizens and in terms of tax justice in Europe. Apple must pay back tax totalling 13 billion euros to Ireland. What does the ruling mean for the future of tax justice in Europe?

The proposal for the new EU Commission has been made, and now the ball is in the EU Parliament's court. Since Wednesday it is clear that the hearings will take place from 4 to 12 November. Depending on the portfolio, the Commissioner-designate's qualifications will be assessed by one or more committees. Only when the hearings have been successfully concluded will the plenary be able to give the full College of Commissioners its consent.

In the Draghi Report and in the political guidelines of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, far-reaching efforts to streamline EU regulations and reduce the burden on companies can be found under the headings “Better Regulation” and “Reducing administrative burdens”. However, there is a risk of losing sight of important regulations for employees and environmental protection. AK EUROPA and the ÖGB Europe Office organised a webinar on this topic on 10 September 2024.

Over the course of August, more and more names of candidates for the new EU Commission became known, followed by the final nominations this week. Contrary to the wishes of the designated EU Commission President, gender parity issues did not play a major role, with only Bulgaria submitting a two-person proposal. Ursula von der Leyen now wants to present her proposal for the next EU Commission in the middle of next week. The hearings in the relevant committees of the EU Parliament are to follow in mid-October.

The EU Parliament is the only directly elected EU institution. It is therefore rightly described as the heart of European democracy. Its organisation and ways of working are laid down in its Rules of Procedure. They have been revised with the aim of strengthening European democracy.

On 1 July 2024, Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council for the next six months. The EU Parliament had previously questioned whether the Hungarian government could reliably fulfil this task. This is because, for the first time in history, a country is now holding the presidency of the Council that is the subject of proceedings for violations of fundamental EU values such as democracy and the rule of law (Article 7 procedure).