The EU has a large number of general social objectives and principles. However, in practice, market-liberal orientations and restrictive fiscal rules have often taken a higher priority. The 2024 elections to the European Parliament represent an important window of opportunity for the debate on strengthening the social orientation of the EU.

The EU's trade and investment agreement with Chile will be put to the vote in the European Parliament on 29 February. From AK's point of view, the agreement is highly problematic, as it has a negative impact on environmental and social standards, among other. The EU is thus moving a step further away from its goal of using trade policy to contribute to the objectives of the Green Deal.

On 24 January, the EU's trade and investment agreement with Chile is on the agenda of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and on 29 February the vote will be held in the European Parliament’s plenary session.

The Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (AK) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) resolutely oppose the agreement with Chile.

On 13 December, the EU Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on a proposal for a directive on improving working conditions in platform work. This means that there could soon be the world's first law regulating the rights of platform workers. More and more people are employed via platforms that are legally considered self-employed. However, this means that rights such as holiday entitlement and continued remuneration in the event of illness no longer apply.

The European Economic and Social Committee recently adopted an opinion on measures to create an EU just transition policy framework. In this opinion, it calls for a corresponding EU Agenda 2050, a Commissioner, who is specifically responsible for it and a Just Transition Observatory. The Committee thus makes it clear that the just transition must be at the top of the agenda in the next legislative period. There can only be a green transition in harmony with a social transition.

A ground-breaking agreement was reached in Brussels on 8 December. After 36 hours of marathon negotiations, the EU Parliament, Council and Commission announced the final trilogue result on the Regulation on artificial intelligence (AI).

The EU Supply Chain Law obliges companies to identify, eliminate, prevent, mitigate and account for negative impacts of their business activities on human rights and the environment in their global value chains. On 14 December, the EU Parliament, Council and Commission announced the trilogue agreement.

In the run-up to the EU elections, there are many political decisions to be made, not least on economic governance. Europe is once again at a crossroads. Will the EU fall back into austerity policies? Or will it finally succeed in driving forward a prosperity-orientated social and economic policy? In this context, comprehensive investment is essential. While the enormous need for investment to tackle the climate crisis is often quite rightly highlighted, social investment has often been overlooked.

According to a recent estimate by the International Labour Organization, around 28 million people worldwide live in forced labour, including more than 3 million children. Forced labour is a global problem that also affects Europe. In September 2022, the EU Commission presented a proposal for a regulation banning products made with forced labour on the EU market.

In November, the members of the European Parliament voted by a narrow majority in favour of amending the EU Treaties. This involves important organisational principles of the EU. Among other, Parliament is calling for more rights of co-determination and decision-making and a social progress protocol. The ball is now in the European Council's court to decide whether to convene a convention.