The European Food Policy Coalition published an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen on October 25, condemning that the Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS), a key EU Green Deal file, is missing from the 2024 work programme, and demanding her to still deliver the FSFS this term. The letter also outlines the signatories’ priorities that need to be met for the announced ‘strategic dialogue on the future of agriculture’ to be fruitful. AK is among the signatories.

In July, the EU Commission published a package of measures to ensure a more sustainable use of plants and soil and to strengthen the resilience of food systems. From the EU Commission's point of view, a key component is changes in the use of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). NGTs should function more specifically, more precisely and more quickly than conventional methods and also improve the climate resilience of plants. A new AK EUROPA Position Paper shows the pitfalls of this proposal.

A recent draft directive by the European Commission aims to put more extra-long and extra-heavy lorries (“Gigaliners”) on the road. The reasons given for revising the existing rules range from a shortage of drivers to improving road safety and environmental protection; the proposal is part of a legislative package on green freight transport presented in early July.

A current draft directive by the EU Commission aims to put more extra-long and extra-heavy lorries on the road in the EU. The consequence would probably be a further shift of freight transport from rail to road. This would not only run counter to the goals of the Green Deal, but also jeopardise road safety. At the same time, the investment needed to adapt and repair the infrastructure would be enormous. Gigaliners also represent a deterioration from the workers' perspective, as they would further increase the pressure on drivers.

On Wednesday, 13 September 2023, Commission President von der Leyen delivered the annual State of the Union (SOTEU) address at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. The last SOTEU in this legislative period before the upcoming EU elections in June 2024 focused on green transition, artificial intelligence (AI) and enlargement. The social perspective was addressed with individual important points, for example with regard to the role of the social partners. However, overall it fell too short.

In March 2023, the EU Commission proposed a package of measures on critical raw materials. The aim is to secure supplies in the future. As the EU is heavily dependent on imports in this area, strategic risks along the value chain are to be reduced. The EU Commission assumes strong increases in consumption. A current AK EUROPA position paper demands that more attention has to be paid to the consequences of massive encroachments on nature and negative impacts on the local population.

The Brussels Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB European Office), the Brussels Office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK EUROPA) and the Daseinsgewerkschaft (Younion) are pleased to cordially invite you to our event "EU Blue Deal — a plan for the future of our water".

Spain has taken over the EU Council Presidency for the coming six months. Under the motto "Europe, closer", Spain is presenting a programme that attempts to find committed European solutions to common problems. Before the approaching elections to the EU Parliament, Spain thus holds the last full EU Council Presidency in this legislative period. This is a strategically important phase to finalise legal acts that are still being negotiated.

In the course of the strategic foresight, the EU Commission annually tries to identify the challenges of the EU’s future and to anticipate them in political present day measures. This year, the focus is on sustainability and well-being and thus on the question of which strategic decisions need to be taken today in order to create a socially, ecologically and economically sustainable EU in the future. Not only can future expectations determine policy today, but policy today also determines the future situation, not least of workers.

The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) aims to secure the supply of critical raw materials to the EU. By 2030, 10 percent of Europe‘s consumption of critical raw materials is to be covered by domestic extraction, 40 percent by domestic processing and 15 percent by recycling. However, the Commission's proposal focuses one-sidedly on securing the largest possible raw volumes and fails to take into account the need to reduce consumption.