All rather sluggish

Sweet talks enter second round

The exploratory talks between the ÖVP and SPÖ will enter their second round on Tuesday afternoon. Andreas Babler will also meet Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) on Monday.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/ROLAND SCHLAGER/APA /picturedesk.com, ALEX HALADA/AFP/picturedesk.com, GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/picturedesk.com)

The exploratory talks between the ÖVP and SPÖ enter their second round on Tuesday afternoon. Not much more is known before the delegations meet at Palais Epstein. However, SPÖ leader Andreas Babler will meet with NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger on Monday. 

It was announced at the weekend that a group of experts had been set up to discuss the budget. It was recently unclear whether the ÖVP team would remain unchanged after Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler announced on Saturday that she would no longer be part of the next government.

Edtstadler wants to "remain available"
On Sunday, Edtstadler once again emphasized on social media that she would continue to be "fully available" to ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer as part of the exploratory team in the negotiations to form a new federal government. Whether he will accept this offer has so far been left unanswered in his office. Edtstadler wants to take up her mandate in the National Council in future and set up a law firm in her home province of Salzburg. She has passed the necessary bar exam.

In any case, in addition to Nehammer, the ÖVP exploratory team will continue to include August Wöginger, managing chairman of the party, Christian Stocker, secretary general, Claudia Plakolm, state secretary, and Harald Mahrer, head of the Wirtschaftsbund. There are also no changes on the horizon for the SPÖ. The team is made up of Philip Kucher, managing chairman of the party, Eva Maria Holzleitner, head of women's affairs, Wolfgang Katzian, president of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), Doris Bures, second president of the National Council, and party chairman Andreas Babler.

Andreas Babler meets Beate Meinl-Riesinger
The latter was already active on Monday. A meeting with NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger was scheduled for later that afternoon. Her party is seen as a likely third partner should the ÖVP and SPÖ agree to work together. Meinl-Reisinger had already met with Nehammer before the fall break - as did Green Party spokesperson Werner Kogler. The latter will also have a meeting with Babler in the course of the week. The Greens are still only considered to be a blatant outsider as far as government participation is concerned, but would probably be needed more often when it comes to two-thirds issues.

In any case, there will be a media briefing after tomorrow's exploratory round. It is not yet known whether this time, in contrast to the first meeting, Nehammer and Babler will appear before the press together.

FPÖ wants insight into finances
The FPÖ, however, considered it appropriate that not only the ÖVP and SPÖ, but also the Freedom Party should be given an insight into the finances. In a joint statement by MPs Hubert Fuchs, Barbara Kolm and Arnold Schiefer, it said that this was the only way to prevent the red and black parties from once again putting together a sham package just to look good.

Diakonie Director Maria Katharina Moser also addressed wishes to the explorers on Monday. Education, housing, health, long-term care, combating child poverty, climate, integration of refugees and people with disabilities into the labor market are crucial issues for the future of the country: "I expect the parties that want to govern Austria in the coming years to tackle them courageously and proactively." This means investing in social security, as appropriate measures are investments in the future.