‘We want positive action to combat exploitative labour in EU construction’

A few days ahead of the EU Social Summit in Porto, Austrian Labour Minister Martin Köcher of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) rejected the idea of an EU-wide minimum wage, claiming the EU lacks competence in the area of labour…

In May 2020, the European Commission published its ‘farm to fork’ strategy – ‘for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system’ – along with the EU biodiversity strategy, as part of the implementation of the European Green Deal. In those strategies the Commission set a target of 25 % of the EU’s agricultural land to be under organic farming by 2030, as well as a significant increase in organic aquaculture. These targets aim to contribute to improving the sustainability of the food system, to reverse biodiversity loss and to reduce the use of chemical substances in the form of pesticides and fertilisers. The Commission’s 2021 work programme set out its intention to prepare an action plan for the development of organic production for the 2021 to 2027 period, and the action plan was published on 25 March 2021. Offering an initial analysis of the action plan, this briefing outlines the measures envisaged and the implications for different stages of the food chain in the EU. It also examines the results of the public consultation launched by the Commission in September 2020 to gather stakeholders’ views on the challenges and opportunities for the organic sector. The views of key stakeholders in response to the publication of the action plan are also covered, along with the initial views expressed by the advisory committees.

Source : © European Union, 2021 – EP

Every year, thousands of workers are misled and abused in all kinds of shady working deals. In most cases, these workers are not recruited by a regular construction company but by a so-called intermediary company. A lucrative business model in…

The Spanish government wants to implement a series of extraordinary measures in the coming months so as to be eligible for EU funding, including changes to tax laws and reforms of the labour market and pension system. EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.