Debates in parliament
SPÖ fought for pensioners, government for biogas
The National Council went into its summer break on Friday. SPÖ motions to abolish unfair pension aliquots and introduce a protection clause were shot down, while the black-green government failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority for the Renewable Gas Act.
"As things stand today, those who retire in 2025 are the 'Gschnapsten' and have disadvantages," explained Peter Kostelka, President of the Social Democratic Pensioners' Association (PVÖ) in an interview with "Krone". Because the first pension increase is paid out proportionately depending on when the pension is taken, it is known that in future it will depend on the birthday whether people have to accept a lifelong loss of their pension. For example, if you are lucky enough to retire in January of a year, you will receive the full adjustment the following year, only half of it in July and no adjustment at all in November or December. "This is unfair and unjust," Kostelka stated. The SPÖ followed up his criticism with action in parliament and tabled motions to abolish the aliquot system and introduce a new protection clause valid from 2025.
We want to finally put an end to this unequal treatment instead of an ever-increasing patchwork quilt - our pensioners deserve better than this government!
Eva-Maria Holzleitner
Women particularly affected
Women are - once again - particularly affected. Due to the gradual increase in the retirement age for women, the regular retirement date for women over the next ten years will be in the second half of the year. And due to the aliquoting of the first pension adjustment, women with a reference date of July 1 will therefore receive a maximum of 40 percent of the actual adjustment and those who leave in November or December will not receive any adjustment at all in the following year. "Since the introduction of the black-green coalition, it has been clear that the pension adjustment puts women at a massive and systematic disadvantage and yet the ÖVP and Greens are doing nothing," criticized Eva-Maria Holzleitner, head of the SPÖ Women's Party and deputy head of the party. Together with trade unionist Josef Muchitsch, she tabled the motions.
Aliquotation is currently suspended by a resolution until the end of 2024. "All people who retire next year will lose up to 20,000 euros," Muchitsch calculated. These losses for around 105,000 people would not be necessary if the government had acted in good time and kept its promise made in the fall: to present a regulation in the first half of 2024. Due to the uncertainty and the threat of losses, people would be "driven into retirement". "Those who retire in 2024 will win, those who retire next year will lose," said the SPÖ National Councillor.
The loss could be this high
The red calculators identify a huge financial disadvantage: with a gross pension of 1,600 euros, the loss in 20 years, for example, would amount to a whopping 35,000 euros.
According to the SPÖ, the aliquot system should be abolished retroactively and the pension adjustment should be corrected ex officio by the end of March 2023 at the latest so that not a single year of new pensioners is disadvantaged, namely those retiring in 2022. An additional payment should then be made with the March pension payment. The red motions were shot down.
Nothing has come of the Renewable Gas Act (EGG) either. This would have obliged gas suppliers to gradually replace fossil natural gas with biogas. A proposal for which the government was unable to win over the SPÖ. Farmers' Association President and ÖVP agricultural spokesman Georg Strasser sharply criticized the two opposition parties, the SPÖ and FPÖ, for refusing to give their consent. It was a "clear decision by the FPÖ in favor of dependence on natural gas from Russia and against the sustainable use of domestic biogas from residues". In the direction of the SPÖ, the Farmers' Union President explained that they had "naturally considered the situation of Austrian households and small and medium-sized enterprises".
When it really matters, the Freedom Party stabs farmers in the back time and time again!
Bauernbund-Chef Georg Strasser
The SPÖ clearly committed itself to the expansion of renewable energy in the fight against climate change. "However, the ÖVP and the Greens have presented a bad biogas law. It was unclear until the end who would have to bear the additional costs. The AK calculates up to 260 euros per household and year. In addition, foodstuffs for the production of gas were also permitted. The SPÖ will never agree to a law that leads to an increase in energy costs for households that are already plagued by inflation and also makes food more expensive," countered energy spokesman Alois Schroll.
The environmental organization Global 2000 nevertheless spoke of a "black day for the energy transition" in Austria ...
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