A pre-Christmas breakthrough is not expected, however.
Coalition: Party Leaders to Meet on Monday
23-12-2024, 14:10
The coalition talks continue even shortly before Christmas. On Monday, rounds are underway, and in the afternoon, according to APA information, party leaders Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Andreas Babler (SPÖ), and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) will also meet.
Minimal Compromise Achieved
When the talks were somewhat on the brink on Friday, at least a minimal compromise was agreed upon to spread the budget consolidation over seven years. Whether this is done within the framework of an EU deficit procedure, as the SPÖ wants, or entirely autonomously, as the NEOS primarily want, remained unclear. If Austria does not send a credible consolidation concept to Brussels in January, the Commission will probably initiate a procedure anyway.
The struggle now in the budget-relevant working groups is about how to approach a consolidation. After all, even with a procedure, 3.9 billion would have to be saved by 2025, without it would even be 6.3 billion. This would be in addition to the costs for the planned offensive measures. However, ÖVP and NEOS did not want to respond to the wealth taxes demanded by the SPÖ on Friday.
This did not prevent the Carinthian governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) from making corresponding demands again on Monday. In the midday "ZiB" he said that everyone should contribute to the consolidation, especially those who have been beneficiaries so far. He wants even the "super-billionaires" to contribute. Here and there, there will also be "something like a waiver".
Lack of Lighthouse Projects
The second problem in the negotiations is that there is a lack of so-called lighthouse projects - real system changes or spectacular initiatives. The NEOS in particular are pushing for the realization of such, as they do not want to be just a mere safeguard for black-red.
In recent days, there have been repeated speculations that the NEOS could withdraw from the negotiations. Green Party leader Werner Kogler still considers it "very unlikely" that his party could be approached for this reason, as ÖVP and SPÖ alone have a (narrow) majority. However, he would not shy away from negotiating a government if necessary, he explained in the "Kleine Zeitung".
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article .
