Vienna Mayor Michael Häupl has warned from a coalition between the People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Freedom Party (FPÖ). The influential Social Democrat – who became mayor of the capital in 1994 – appealed in his speech at yesterday’s (Tues) International Workers’ Day in downtown Vienna to fellow party members to do everything they can […]
The People’s Party (ÖVP) has suggested to lower the tax pressure on companies which share their profits with employees. ÖVP chairman Michael Spindelegger said yesterday (Tues) firms which decided to pay bonuses to staff in economically successful times should benefit by such a tax reform. The foreign minister added that his party would present detail […]
Former Social Democratic (SPÖ) Interior Minister Karl Schlögl has rejected claims that his party is in need of a new programme. Only 27 to 28 per cent of Austrians would elect the SPÖ at the moment, according to polls by Viennese research groups Karmasin and OGM. The left-wing party – which is headed by Werner […]
Outgoing People’s Party (ÖVP) parliament member (MP) Ferdinand Maier has suggested to let Austrians decide about the future of the various Austrian railway tunnel projects. The Social Democrats (SPÖ) of Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor Michael Spindelegger’s ÖVP decided to spend more than three billion Euros on the Semmering tunnel. Only last week, the […]
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 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 […]
Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann considers a reform of national broadcaster ORF’s Stiftungsrat for the foreseeable future. The Stiftungsrat is a council with 35 members which has a function similar to a supervisory board. It is widely seen as an essential tool to Austria’s parties when it comes to trying to make themselves heard […]
Linz deputy mayor Klaus Luger (SPÖ) says a policy of targetting kids with language difficulties which he prioneered in local kindergartens has been vindicated by a German report. According to the new study by the Berlin-Institute for Population and Development, carefully targetted language initiatives in Kindergartens bring the greatest results in advancing the language ability […]
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 […]
A climate expert has called on lawmakers to provide people with cheap public transport tickets as petrol prices continue soaring. Stefan Schleicher of the Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) said yesterday (Thurs) the current situation posed a “unique chance” for decision-makers. Schleicher told radio channel Ö1 that politicians should offer affordable long-term tickets for means […]