Austrian jobless rate still lowest in EU

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Business

Austria has retained its title of being the European Union’s (EU) jobless rate model pupil.The European Commission’s (EC) statistics body Eurostat found that Austria still had the lowest unemployment rate among the EU-27 with 4.3 per cent, followed by the Netherlands where 4.5 per cent of residents were out of work in August.The agency also […]

Few Austrians see need for more support of ethnic minorities

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General News

Fewer than one in five Austrians think of ethnic minorities as a group in need of protection.Magazine profil reports today (Mon) only 18 per cent of Austrians thought ethnic minorities deserved more protection. The poll – conducted by Viennese research agency Karmasin – also showed that two in 10 Austrians said the same about migrants […]

Denying Greece support ‘dangerous’, Pröll warns

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Politics

People’s Party (ÖVP) Vice Chancellor Josef Pröll has warned of “dangerous developments” as European Union (EU) member states have backed out of the previously agreed upon support package for Greece.Speaking about the Czech Republic’s and Slovakia’s decision not to contribute to the 110-billion-Euro rescue bid agreed upon last May, he said today (Thurs): “Neighbouring countries […]

Austrian woes and warnings over Hungarian bank tax plans

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Finance

Hungary is “playing with fire,” Raiffeisenzentralbank (RZB) boss Walter Rothensteiner has warned as the country plans to go ahead with introducing a bank tax.Hungarian Fidesz National Economy Minister György Matolcsy said after meeting with Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner today (Mon) his party would press on with setting up the controversial tax.The […]

Labour minister dismisses pension age rise call

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Politics

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer has strongly challenged pension age appeals by European Union (EU) Commissioner László Andor.Hungarian economist Andor – the EU’s Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – said yesterday (Weds) EU member states must increase the age their citizens retired to avoid a breakdown of the social system.Think tanks […]

Non-EU roaming costs warning issued

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General News

Austrian consumer watchdogs have warned holidaymakers of high mobile phone costs in Turkey and Croatia.Labour Chamber (AK) experts said today (Weds) roaming costs in Croatia could reach a whopping two Euros per minute depending on the chosen provider.They also warned making a one-minute long mobile phone call from Turkey to Austria can cost up to […]

Austrian tourist handed €37,000 mobile roaming bill

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General News

An Austrian woman on holiday in Croatia received a 37,000-Euro mobile phone bill from Mobilkom Austria for internet roaming charges.The 37-year-old used her smartphone to browse the internet while in Croatia, using 15 gigabytes during her four-week long vacation, according to a Croatian Times report from today (Thurs).Mobilkom Austria reportedly helped its client by wiping […]

Austria shamed by EU-wide pension age list

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Politics

Austria has made the top three in a humiliating European Union (EU) retirement age ranking.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures presented today (Weds) reveal that Belgium and France were the only other EU member states with a comparably low average pensioning age as Austria where men retire on average at 59 and […]

Pröll wants EU-wide financial transactions tax by 2011

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Business

People’s Party (ÖVP) Vice Chancellor Josef Pröll has appealed to European Union (EU) leaders to introduce a continental tax on financial transactions by next year.”It’s clear to me that we need a Europe-wide financial transactions tax. The sooner we agree on it the better. I’m in favour of this tax coming into force in 2011,” […]

Austrian energy price hike reported as EU average drops

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Business

Consumer watchdogs are expected to launch another scathing attack at energy providers at it emerged that energy and gas became more expensive in Austria while prices declined on average in the European Union (EU).Eurostat, the European Commission’s (EC) statistics agency, announced today (Fri) that the average price for energy provided to EU households dropped by […]