Government poker game underway

States slam demands on the federal government’s desk

Some provincial governors are stepping on the toes of the government negotiators.

(Bild: Land OÖ/Mayrhofer)

The Turkish-red government negotiators are now having to deal with the federal states. In view of the huge budget shortfall, the provinces are calling for a cash crash with clear figures and are demanding that the future federal government be involved again in financial matters. 

A few days ago, the federal states were confronted with the fact that they will receive significantly less revenue shares from the federal government in 2025 than expected. This means they will suddenly be missing out on tens of millions of euros. Upper Austria's Governor Thomas Stelzer speaks of a "surprise announcement". It is unacceptable that the federal states, which have already drawn up their budgets, are faced with a changed basis of figures overnight. Stelzer said after a meeting of the provincial finance officers that whoever will form the next federal government is expected to be involved again.

"It can't go on like this"
Stelzer received support from his Salzburg colleague Wilfried Haslauer. "It can't go on like this," he said, calculating how the federal government was withholding EU funds from the provinces. Austria had received 500 million euros more than originally planned from the European Recovery and Resilience Fund - 3.9 billion euros instead of 3.4 billion euros. The federal states are entitled to 16.8 percent of this. However, the federal government has so far refused to pass on its share of the additional 500 million euros. Haslauer is calling on the next government to "take a different approach".

The state finance officers were taken by surprise by the federal government with new figures

(Bild: Land OÖ/Mayrhofer)

Another example is the federal government's basic social welfare law. If someone does a training course, they receive a supplement. The federal government has stipulated that this supplement is not included in the assessment basis for social assistance. These are additional costs for the federal states that were not agreed with them.

Budget chaos is due to the election campaign
As with the massive correction of the budget deficit, it is assumed behind closed doors that the subsequent change to the revenue shares is also due to "the election campaign". Stelzer and Haslauer are calling on the federal government to revive the Stability Pact, which was suspended during the coronavirus crisis, including a reform. They also draw attention to the costs they will incur as a result of the renaturation. The measures demanded here "must be backed by funds from the EU and/or the federal government, otherwise the provinces and municipalities will not be able to cope," says Stelzer.

Exploratory break until Monday
Meanwhile, negotiations continued again on Wednesday at Palais Epstein. Behind closed doors, the ÖVP and SPÖ teams discussed the key issues already known and the roadmap for the future. In terms of content, the topics were migration and health - but also money again. On Tuesday, the ÖVP reportedly proposed drawing up a list of political no-gos, for example in terms of tax policy. However, the two parties have apparently not yet made much progress.

On Monday, the "constructive talks" are to be continued, overlaps in content defined and the involvement of other parties clarified. Until then, the parties will define negotiating groups for the thematic blocks - the signs are pointing towards a sugar-coalition.