Illuminating protocols

Blue and black even disagree on EU flags

Symbolic image

(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

The FPÖ and ÖVP will still have a lot to talk about next week. Minutes from the subgroups show impressively that there are still major differences in content between the coalition negotiators. Symbolic issues such as flags are also blocking the way.

It is not only issues such as the Sky Shield and the ORF that are currently failing in the media. The Freedom Party is also said to be calling for the withdrawal from international agreements such as the WHO pandemic treaty and the NATO Partnership for Peace.

The coalition negotiations between the FPÖ and ÖVP, which had been interrupted following major differences, were also resumed at leadership level on Friday. There had previously been major disagreements, with the main point of contention being the distribution of portfolios.

However, there is likely to be progress here. The Freedom Party is said to have offered its negotiating partner the Foreign Ministry, which will in future also be responsible for EU affairs. In response to an APA inquiry, the FPÖ merely confirmed that an offer had already been made to the Turks on Friday, without going into detail. It remains to be seen whether this will also resolve the dispute over direction at European level.

The EU agendas were first transferred from the Foreign Ministry to the Chancellery under ÖVP Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2017 and could now return to the Foreign Ministry. This would mean that EU coordination would not be part of the Freedom Party's aspirations for the chancellery. The FPÖ leader is said to have already announced in his talks with Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen on Thursday that he would make concessions to the ÖVP in this regard.

The content of the offer was not confirmed by the FPÖ, but a conversation with the Federal President was held in which he was informed of a concession. If the ÖVP gets its core competence of foreign policy and the EU, it is only logical that the FPÖ should claim its core competence of security and asylum, according to blue negotiating circles. The ÖVP also claimed the Ministry of the Interior for itself until the very end.

Negotiations will resume on Monday, including on flags
Party leaders Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) and Christian Stocker (ÖVP) are to continue negotiations from Monday, mainly at executive level and in the steering groups, as there are still many problems.

The protocols that have now emerged, which have also been reported on by ORF, show that even in the sub-groups there are still problems. According to the papers leaked at the weekend, the FPÖ is demanding that not all official buildings should carry an EU flag. There is even disagreement on the issue of asylum: the blue negotiators want "pushbacks" at the external borders and question the right to asylum.

Duration of basic military service also an issue
In the area of home affairs - both parties claim the ministry for themselves - the FPÖ wants to abolish the Crisis Security Act, according to the protocols. This focuses on global crises such as wars and pandemics and is intended to increase state resilience.

According to the FPÖ, CO2 pricing should also be abolished. The blue negotiators also have an increase in basic military service to ten months and "compensation for pain and suffering" for the coronavirus measures in mind. The party leaders are still expected to negotiate many of the major issues themselves.

ÖVP sees lines crossed
The economic wing of the ÖVP in particular is confronted with what it sees as impossible FPÖ demands. After a bank levy and a financial contribution from the chambers to budget restructuring, the Freedom Party is now also demanding that church contributions and donations to charitable associations are no longer tax-deductible.

They are also calling for an end to the property tax exemption for church buildings. According to FPÖ calculations, the abolition of the deductibility of church contributions could generate 155 million euros a year, while the tax breaks could generate 60 million euros.