Successfully defend interests at national level on EU affairs in Austria Frank Ey AK EUROPA, the Brussels-office of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour

Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour  Founded by law in 1921 to represent and promote the social, economic, professional and cultural interests of workers and employees  9 regional chambers plus federal coordination  Currently 3.3 mio members  2,500 employees  Brussels office since 1991 with 3 policy officers  There is no European Chamber of Labour  In Europe only Luxembourg has also a Chamber of Labour

Major areas of work  Advisory service and legal protection for members  More than 2.2 million legal advices per year  Outcome of disputes per year: € 250 million  Expertise in economics, social policy, justice, education and consumer protection among others  Training of works councils and union officials  Research into work-related matters  Think tank based advocacy

Austrian social and economic partnership AK is an integral part of the Austrian political system:  Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour  Austrian Trade Union Federation  Austrian Chamber of Agriculture  Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund

European decision-making in Austria  Chamber of Labour makes use of its vested right to state its opinion on law-making plans of the European Union  Opinions on roughly 750 legislative and non- legislative proposals/year  Sometimes common positions with the social partners  Meetings with civil servants and members of the cabinets from the Austrian Federal Ministries  Alliances with trade unions, NGOs and other partners  Composing studies on EU issues  Organisation of conferences, workshops and seminars  Press conferences and other media activities

Working time directive in road transport – activities in Austria Cooperation AK, ÖGB, Vida Opinions of cooperation partners to the ministries Press releases of AK, Vida Several meetings with transport and social ministry Conference on Dir. proposal Activities successful, BUT: On Council level only a minority against the directive! October 2008: Commission publishes Revision of Dir. 2002/85/EC

Services of General Interest Background: European Commission intends to introduce new rules on services of general interests Activities in Austria:  Meetings with interest groups, ie VÖWG, Städtebund, Gemeindebund, Südwind, Trade Unions,…  Contributions to the consultations of the Commission - inform the interest groups and the ministries about it  Regular meetings with ministries  Studies on trade and public services and on social services  Conference on social public services together with Südwind, City of Vienna, Olympische Jugendspiele, City of Innsbruck, Trade Unions  Leaflet on privatisation and public services and a guideline on emergengy services (ambulance transport)

Thank you for your interest!