For the second time!

State of Carinthia declares war on the legal jungle

There will soon be less bureaucracy across departments in Carinthia!

(Bild: Rojsek-Wiedergut Uta)

The Carinthian state government presented a wide range of topics after its meeting on Tuesday: housing, art/culture, deregulation, disaster relief, climate and cycle paths. 

"€360 living" is the name of the reconstruction project in Friesach, which will see apartments completed in stages by 2026, in which living including operating costs will cost between 300 and 440 euros warm: "Carinthia has the lowest rents in a comparison of federal states," emphasized Governor Peter Kaiser, presenting statistics according to which one square metre costs 5.3 euros in Carinthia, 5.5 euros in Burgenland and 6.2 euros in Lower Austria: "The frontrunners are Tyrol and Salzburg with 8.6 and 8.7 euros per square meter," says Kaiser.

The Governor also announced two 3-year grants in the art/culture sector: the Domenigg-Stein-Haus on Lake Ossiach will receive 150,000 euros per year, while Taggenbrunn Castle can look forward to 110,000 euros per year. "A total of 52,000 euros are to be reported as fair-pay measures for these projects," Kaiser proudly mentioned. Artists should therefore be paid the same amount.

Where the Carinthian tax money goes
Almost a year after the devastating storms in the summer of 2023, Carinthian politicians also presented the final disaster relief report: "750,000 euros went to 278 households in 27 municipalities," as provincial councillor Daniel Fellner was informed by Governor Kaiser. The "Krone" also launched a donation campaign at the time!

It was also decided

• In future, the Carinthia Human Rights Prize will be endowed with 20,000 euros, and there will also be themed awards.
• 43 million euros will be invested in the general renovation of the Stiegerhof agricultural college; the final financing decision will be made after four years.
• 6 million euros will flow into Carinthia's cycle paths in 2024. Work in the Lieserschlucht gorge will continue as planned from September.

The red/black coalition already launched a process to reduce bureaucracy in 2020, and now the second edition of this process is set to follow: "Over the next one and a half years, the entire legal landscape in Carinthia is to be reviewed," announce provincial vice-presidents Martin Gruber and Peter Kaiser. A cross-departmental decluttering is to take place, i.e. obsolete laws are to be abolished and procedures simplified. "Very important for the location," says Gruber.

Carinthian climate law called for
Last but not least, Provincial Councillor Sara Schaar presented the opinion of the Climate Council on the Carinthian climate agenda: civilian representatives have looked at the measures and are now calling on politicians to develop indicators to better measure their effectiveness. "The biggest challenges in Carinthia are traffic and land consumption," says Schaar. In any case, the steering group's recommendations will be passed on in order to revise the climate strategy in the fall. Schaar also mentioned that the Climate Council is proposing a Carinthian climate law as long as there is no federal law in this area.

In line with the topic of climate, Schaar also presented the pre-financing for the development of the wetland complex in Unterbergen in St. Veit: "This is the largest project of its kind in Carinthia!" It was decided to purchase and secure the 12-hectare site, where partly uncultivated farmland and meadows are to be converted into a wetland biotope by 2025. Among other things, the yellow-bellied toad will be protected there: "The project is 100% funded by the federal government!"