WK election 2025

Günter Burger: “I am a lone fighter!”

Günter Burger has been acting Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce for ten years. He has been working as an insurance agent in Carinthia for almost 40 years.

(Bild: Evelyn Hronek)

The Chamber of Commerce elections will take place on March 12 and 13. WK Vice-President Günter Burger from the Freiheitliche Wirtschaft explains in an interview what needs to change at the Chamber.

Günter Burger from the Freiheitliche Wirtschaft has been the incumbent Vice-President of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce for ten years and has held various positions there for 30 years. In the private sector, he has been looking after his customers as an insurance agent for almost 40 years.

"Krone": The Chamber focuses on entrepreneurship. How are you entrepreneurially active?
Günter Burger: We functionaries are all entrepreneurs. I have been an insurance agent for almost 40 years. That means I have a very demanding job that I also have to manage on the side. I have built up my customer base myself over the last 40 years. I am a lone fighter.

Why are you in the Chamber of Commerce and not in politics? After all, they are very related topics.
I was also in politics, i.e. local politics, but I would say that I am more interested in representing interests. Because you can actually do something for your own profession and, let's say, try to turn certain things away from politics. Yes, it's more the professional part that is required in the Chamber of Commerce. Politics is another pair of shoes. I think I'm more of a politician when it comes to representing interests.

You have already said that you are a lone fighter. Are there conflicts between the Chamber and entrepreneurship or is it possible to reconcile the two?
You need very good time management. And also a partner who stands by you. I am very lucky that I have a partner who is now retired but was an entrepreneur herself. She still supports me in her well-deserved retirement. That's also worth mentioning.

Does your job perhaps also give you a better insight into how the Chamber of Commerce should operate?
Yes, of course. Not only am I Vice President, but I also sit on the committee of insurance agents at state and federal level. Perhaps a small example. When I started my business 40 years ago, a two-page motor vehicle application was enough. Today, such an application has 48 pages. Back then, I was out in the field about 80 percent of the time and maybe 20 percent of the time you worked in the office. Today it's the other way around. It's even worse. This bureaucracy really is madness.

What role should the Chamber of Commerce actually play as a social partner in Austria?
Well, it should actually be there more for the entrepreneurs. Not somehow be a stirrup holder for a party. The Chamber of Commerce has been captured by the ÖVP. We also need diversity in the representation of interests. It is not acceptable to have a large majority party that actually dictates everything, then it is also a real representation of interests.

What works really well at the Chamber of Commerce, what urgently needs to change?
You can't see how many hours the employees work for the companies, it works well. But the political capture must end. If everything is canceled after the attack in Villach, then you also expect the Chamber of Commerce to intervene a little and say, friends, we can't cancel everything. Then those who did this have achieved what they actually wanted.

How should the Chamber of Commerce support businesses in need? In principle, there is business assistance, but that is of course only for illness and emergencies.
The Chamber of Commerce does a lot. We have our own emergency fund. I was affected myself three years ago with my farm in Treffen. I also had my office there and it was all under water. The Chamber of Commerce was the first and quickest to help. The president was with me two days later. I think it's not just important that someone gets money, but that someone is there to tell you that things will continue.

Now let's go back to the things that perhaps also need to change in the Chamber of Commerce. What do you think about a leaner chamber?
I say streamline, yes, you don't have to do everything. The Chamber of Commerce does a lot of things that aren't actually part of its remit. And I believe that in times like these, you should turn the screws where you can perhaps work a little more efficiently. And there are certainly enough opportunities to make savings.

The Freiheitliche Wirtschaft has proposed abolishing multiple membership in the various sectors.
Our main issue has always been voluntary membership in the Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, this is not possible because the chambers have constitutional status. You have to be honest and say that it's not possible. But there are these multiple memberships. It's about the basic levy - that doesn't jeopardize the existence of the chamber.

Now the Chamber of Commerce, like many social partners, is struggling with a very low voter turnout. What could be the reason for this?
At the last election, we didn't even have a 30% voter turnout. You really have to ask yourself whether you still have the right to exist as a representative body. It's just difficult to move away from the company. We have a shortage of skilled workers, so every minute you are at work counts.

How do you see the issue of the ORF household levy and what is the problem there?
You know, I see it a bit more pragmatically as an entrepreneur. I think it's very unfair what's being done. If I have a public service mandate, I should receive public funds for it, but they should come from the budget and not from the population. Now I pay this ORF fee privately and have to pay it again as a company. Who came up with the idea of dividing it up according to employees? The more employees you have, the more you have to pay. Incidentally, the Chamber of Commerce issued a positive statement on the law at the time.

Speaking of the economy, what does the Carinthian economy need in the future?
Our state has only been administered for three or four periods under black and red. And yet they still run up debts amounting to hundreds of millions of euros. The last innovations that Carinthia had were Lakeside and the Koralm Tunnel, where the Styrians are decades ahead of us. They already knew back then that an entire region could be connected. Not ours, they haven't done anything yet. That's a shame for Carinthia, we need just such an innovation. If we didn't have Infineon, we would probably be the land of sleepers.

Do you see the dangers rather than the opportunities with the Koralmbahn, because these opportunities are being missed?
The opportunities are there, but you have to take advantage of them. If you just let them pass by and watch the others, then nothing will happen. And I say with Area South, we have created a shell. It has to be filled by politicians, the framework conditions have to be created so that companies can settle here. The train is going in both directions, but if we carry on like this, then the train will go in one direction. If I get a better job out in Styria and I'm 40 minutes away from home, then I shouldn't be surprised.

Back to the election itself. Why should voters give their vote to the Freiheitliche Wirtschaft?
As I've already said, we want diversity inside. Today, the Chamber of Commerce is, let's say, the stooge of the ÖVP, because this majority party actually sets the course. And if several people talk there and there is real representation of interests, then perhaps there will also be a rethink in politics. If you really stick your finger in the wound and say you have to do something for the future of this country.

Do you think that this is not currently happening under President Mandl, that he is not putting his finger in the wound of politics, so to speak?
It is difficult when you are President of the Chamber of Commerce and two of my people are in the government. I can make my voice heard, but of course not with the necessary aggressiveness. You can only do that if you are independent.