The crisis of the People’s Party (ÖVP) seems to worsen as inner conflicts are escalating. Ferdinand Maier announced he would resign as ÖVP parliament member (MP) in May. “I am already preparing my farewell speech,” Maier – who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the ÖVP’s various leaders of the past years […]
Austria’s pensioners have called on the government to introduce laws which would up the pressure on “bullying” companies. Andreas Khol, who heads the country’s Association of Conservative Pensioners, said: “Firms which bully employees and force them to retire prior to the regular pension age should be obliged to come up for the costs the state […]
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 […]
An opposition party wants jail sentences for energy sector businesspeople while the government plans to increase the financial support of drivers. Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) head Josef Bucher announced yesterday (Weds) stricter penalties were needed to stop mineral oil firms from not passing on international trading developments to customers. Bucher said Austrian […]
Full transparency regarding the subsidisation of parties has been identified as the most urgent issue in fighting corruption in a poll. Viennese research centre Karmasin spoke with 500 Austrians for magazine profil. The agency made several suggestions to the interviewed voters about how to fight political corruption. The people the agency spoke with were allowed […]
The Austrian government coalition has decided to inject more than 30 billion Euros into Federal Railways (ÖBB). Werner Faymann’s Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the team of People’s Party (ÖVP) ministers agreed yesterday (Weds) to support the railway company with 33 billion Euros. The money will be invested in the coming years. The subsidisation is supposed […]
The Austrian government is cracking down on another alleged safe haven for private equity. Only last week, Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Maria Fekter met with Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to finalise a tax treaty between the neighbouring countries. The agreement means that Austrians’ money in Switzerland would be charged with tax rates […]
One of the world’s leading credit rating agencies has confirmed the Austrian AAA. US American agency Fitch announced yesterday (Tues) it decided to reaffirm the alpine country’s top credit rating. Fitch also gave a stable outlook on Austria’s economic development. The Austrian economy strongly depends on tourism, its retail trade – which employs more than […]
The Austrian state auditor has criticised the sharp increase in the cost of teachers in lower Austria. It said that with the teaching costs for compulsory schools alone the increase was around 21 percent. The report on teaching staff costs has now been presented to the regional government. According to the report the region has […]
A cross-country tax on financial transactions is anything but dead, Social Democratic (SPÖ) Finance Secretary Andreas Schieder has claimed. Schieder said today (Weds) that the Austrian government coalition of his faction and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) would keep up the pressure for the introduction of such a levy. He told the Kurier that the […]