After the controversial inclusion of gas and nuclear energy as sustainable economic activities under the Taxonomy Regulation last year, the concretisation of the regulation is picking up speed again. Currently, the EU Commission is discussing the further development and expansion of environmentally sustainable aspects of the classification system. Social sustainability is still not an issue.

After numerous ad hoc reactions to the horrendous price development as a symptom of the current energy crisis, the longed-for legislative proposal to reform the EU electricity market followed in March. Little has remained of the fundamental revision that was promised. AK demands that energy supply be legally established as a central part of public services. Security of supply, affordability and sustainability in the sense of decarbonisation must be legally anchored as overriding goals.

The Benchmarking Working Europe Report 2023 highlights social vulnerabilities and challenges in Europe. The EU is currently trying to manage four transitions simultaneously, with conflicting goals and limited vision. However, a transformative and ambitious social transition is needed to break the current crisis cycle. Researchers from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and representatives from the European Commission and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) discussed this on the occasion of the publication of the report.

In October 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for the revision of the Urban Waste Water Directive as part of the EU REFIT process. The 30-year-old Directive is to be adapted to the latest state of the art technology, current challenges of the climate crisis and the Green Deal. AK supports the project, but also points out necessary improvements.

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Brussels offices of the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB Europabüro) are pleased to invite you again jointly to the launch of this year’s Benchmarking Working Europe report.

A representative survey commissioned by AK Vienna and Greenpeace shows: Consumers in Austria are aware of the downsides of fashion consumption in principle. However, their purchasing behaviour lags behind this awareness. Last but not least, production and trade must also rethink. This requires clear rules. AK and Greenpeace advocate, among other, a legal ban on the destruction of new goods and a strong EU supply chain law.

2023 promises a high level of tension in the area of trade policy for various reasons. First and foremost, there are final negotiations on numerous trade agreements, which are to be observed critically, especially from the perspective of sustainability. The potential acceleration of the entry into force of already concluded trade agreements by splitting off the investment part is also explosive from a democratic policy perspective.

In order to contribute to an objective debate on decoupling the electricity price from the gas price and to create the basis for a quick implementation, AK has commissioned the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) to examine the effects of the implementation of the Iberian model in a two-part study.

The Executive Summary of the second part of the study regarding the EU-wide implementation of the "Iberian Model":

AK is convinced that the EU-wide implementation of the "Iberian model" to decouple the electricity price from the gas price would contribute significantly to reducing the economic costs of this crisis.

In order to contribute to an objective debate and to create the basis for a quick implementation, AK has commissioned the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) to examine the effects of the implementation of the Iberian model in a two-part study.

Since the dramatic increase in gas and electricity prices over recent months, the EU Commission has presented four emergency regulations. Whilst the first one has already been enforced, at their meeting on 24 November 2022, the energy ministers agreed on two additional regulations. However, so far there has been little support for the fourth Commission proposal for a gas price cap.