Talks are resuming in Vienna this week between Iran and the West to try and come to an agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme and trade sanctions placed on the country by the United States and Europe. Several rounds of talks have taken place over the past six months and are some of the […]
The Chinese government has threatened to take Schönbrunn’s panda’s away if the Austrian government meets the Dalai Lama again. The foreign minister and deputy president Michael Spindelegger (ÖVP) was presented with a scarf by the Dalai Lama in Vienna’s Stadthalle last year and the chancellor Werner Faymann met the spiritual leader of Tibet for dinner […]
Austrian Airlines (AUA) is not expected to make it into the black this year despite the recent agreement between bosses and works council chiefs. The struggling airline’s executive board agreed with works committee leaders to cut pilots’ wages by 25 per cent on average soon. The AUA pilots’ representatives managed to avoid an enforced change […]
The Austrian government has informed the European Commission (EC) and Eurozone financial issues watchdogs about its budget path. Social Democrats (SPÖ) and People’s Party (ÖVP) filed a document to the political institutions’ headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and Strasbourg, France, today (Weds). The paper features all detail information about how the coalition intends to erase the […]
The opposition teamed up in attacking the government over its tax agreement with Switzerland. People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Maria Fekter agreed with her Swiss counterpart, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, about charging a tax of 15 to 38 per cent on Austrians’ assets in Switzerland shortly. Fekter said in Swiss capital Bern, where the treaty was signed […]
The Social Democrats (SPÖ) and regional power brokers have attacked Maria Fekter. The People’s Party (ÖVP) finance minister announced yesterday (Mon) she wanted to sanction provincial governments which breached the harsh new budget rules. Fekter said the agreement between the federal government and the provinces should not expire in 2017. The SPÖ-ÖVP coalition wants to […]
By Rebecca Musgrave US brewers Anheuser-Busch may soon be allowed to sell “Bud” and “American Bud” in Austria. According to newspapers Kurier and WirtschaftsBlatt today, the decision has been made by the Supreme Court and will bring to an end the on-going legal dispute between the American brewers and the Czech brewers, Budweiser Budvar. The […]
A human rights activist has highlighted the consequences an expected agreement between the European Union (EU) and the USA will have on travellers’ personal rights. US campaigner Edward Hasbrouck said speaking to the Kurier that the so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) regulation – on which the EU and the United States are set to agree […]
People’s Party (ÖVP) State Secretary Sebastian Kurz has called for a reform of Austria’s anti-forced marriage law. Forced marriages are not a criminal offence under the current regulations if carried out abroad. Austrians and people living in Austria are facing legal consequences for such actions only if this kind of marriage occurs within the country’s […]
Federation of Industries (IV) chief Veit Sorger has warned that yesterday’s (Tues) metal industry salary negotiations agreement would “intensify the pressure on companies to rationalise.” Sorger is quoted by the Kurier as saying that the agreement – under which the 165,000 workers will get 4.2 per cent more from November – was a “great burden” […]