Party funding

FPÖ receives 7.5 million euros more from federal funds

FPÖ party leader Herbert Kickl

(Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth)

With the inflation published on Wednesday, the increase in party funding for the current year has also been determined. If the FPÖ and ÖVP do not agree to a cut in the coalition talks, the total amount will rise by 2.9 percent to 38 million euros. In addition, the funds will be redistributed according to the election results. The FPÖ in particular will benefit from this. It will receive 5.3 million euros more in party funding than in 2024; including club and academy funding, it will receive 7.5 million euros more.

Federal party funding is increased annually by the previous year's inflation rate. This year's funding will therefore increase by 2.9% - this inflation figure was published by Statistics Austria on Wednesday. In addition, the subsidies will be redistributed according to the results of the National Council elections. This also applies to subsidies for parliamentary clubs and party academies. The following applies to all three funding lines: those who achieve more votes and mandates in the National Council elections will also receive more money from the state.

Heavy losses for ÖVP
This time, the FPÖ is the main beneficiary. The Freedom Party made strong gains in the National Council elections and became the strongest party for the first time with 28.8 percent, just ahead of the ÖVP with 26.3 percent. Accordingly, the party, the club and the Freedom Party Education Institute received a total of 22 million euros - that is 7.5 million euros more than in the previous year.

The biggest loser is the ÖVP due to the heavy loss of votes in the September elections. At 20.9 million euros, it will receive 5.2 million euros less than in the previous year. Losses in party funding alone account for 3.6 million euros. The remaining losses affect the parliamentary club and the political academy of the ÖVP. Speaking of which: in contrast to the subsidies for parties and parliamentary clubs, the academy funding is not automatically value-adjusted, but only redistributed this year according to the election results.

Slight plus for SPÖ and NEOS
The Greens are also among the losers. This year, they will receive 9.5 million euros for their party, club and academy. That is 2.7 million euros less than in the previous year. For the SPÖ, there is an increase of just under 700,000 euros to 17.7 million euros. The NEOS will receive a total of 9.6 million euros - 900,000 euros more than in 2024.

However, it is still unclear whether the party funding will be paid out in full this year. This is because the FPÖ and ÖVP also announced savings in the funding system in their budget plans outlined on Monday. There is still some time to work out the details, as the first installment of party funding is usually paid out without taking inflation into account. The inflation adjustment will then be taken into account in the second transfer in the second half of the year.

NEOS for "significant cut"
The NEOS called for a "significant cut" in a press release on Wednesday. After all, they are the "absolute frontrunners" when it comes to spending taxpayers' money on political parties, but at the same time there is little transparency when it comes to spending. "The FPÖ in particular can now prove how honest its criticism of the greedy party system is," said Secretary General Douglas Hoyos. The NEOS believe that the freed-up funds should instead be used to strengthen media funding or to finance common values education.