The Commission welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament of theDigital Services Actand Digital Markets Act, proposed by the Commission in December 2020. The Digital Services Package sets out a first comprehensive rulebook for the online platforms that we all depend on in our daily lives. These new rules will be applicable across the whole of the EU and will create a safer and more open digital space, grounded in respect for fundamental rights.
The Directive establishes a framework for the adequacy of statutory minimum wages, promoting collective bargaining on wage setting, and enhancing the effective access of workers to minimum wage protection in the EU. The main elements of the Directive are: A framework for setting and updating statutory minimum wages, Promoting and facilitating collective bargaining on wages, and Improved monitoring and enforcement of minimum wage protection.
On May 18th, Member States, workers and employers in the EU Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work (ACSH) reached an agreement on the need to recognise COVID-19 as an occupational disease in health and social care and in domiciliary assistance and, in a pandemic context, in sectors where there is an outbreak in activities with proven risk of infection, and supported an update of the EU list of occupational diseases.
Today, the Commission is proposing to update the EU consumer rules to empower consumers for the green transition. The updated rules will ensure that consumers can take informed and environment-friendly choices when buying their products. Consumers will have a right to know how long a product is designed to last for and how, if at all, it can be repaired. In addition, the rules will strengthen consumer protection against untrustworthy or false environmental claims, banning ‘greenwashing'.
The Commission welcomes the swift political agreement reached between the European Parliament and EU Member States on the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The regulation, agreed in slightly more than a year after it was proposed, is among the first initiatives of its kind to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies.
The European Commission has proposed changes to the Central Securities Depositories Regulation to enhance the efficiency of the EU's settlement markets, while safeguarding financial stability. Currently it can take up to two business days to settle a transaction, which can result in both credit and legal risks during that period. Ensuring that these transactions are settled in a safe and efficient manner is therefore essential for the EU's financial system.
The European Commission has adopted its guidelines on the general regime of conditionality, which aims to protect the EU budget against breaches of the principles of the rule of law. The guidelines explain in detail how the Commission will apply the regulation, including how the rights of the final recipients and beneficiaries of EU funding will be protected.
On February 23rd, the Commission proposed new rules on who can use and access data generated in the EU across all economic sectors. The Data Act seeks to ensure fairness in the digital environment, to stimulate a competitive data market, to open opportunities for data-driven innovation and to make data more accessible for everybody, especially SMEs.
Last week the EP finally adopted the Common Provisions, ERDF and Interreg regulations. The ESF regulation had already been approved at the beginning of June (press release).
