Category: Austria

ienna’s public transport operator, Wiener Linien, has defended its decision to abolish the discounted single ticket for senior citizens, as the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) accuses the city of placing an unfair burden on older people. Since the beginning of the year, senior passengers have had to pay €3.20 for a single journey, compared with […]

A planned tariff reform in Austria is meant to lower electricity grid fees for most households, but the Austrian Workers’ Chamber (AK) is warning that broad fee exemptions for power storage could shift costs back onto ordinary homes. Ahead of a final decision, the AK says storage is vital for the energy transition, yet the […]

Austria could record fewer than 10,000 asylum applications this year, which would be the lowest figure since the beginning of the new millennium and the first time since 1997 that the country has fallen below this mark. According to the latest Interior Ministry statistics, Austrian authorities registered 6,512 asylum applications by the end of August. […]

VIENNA, September 19: Austria’s long-awaited climate law has entered a public review process, but the government’s promise to make the country climate neutral by 2040 has already drawn strong criticism from environmental groups and business leaders. The proposed law is based on three main pillars: cutting emissions, adapting to climate change and promoting a circular […]

Schumann threatens to raise insolvency levy Austria’s social partners are under pressure to reach a swift agreement on the future financing of the country’s Insolvency Remuneration Fund. Labour Minister Korinna Schumann has warned that she will raise the contribution paid by employers through a government decree if negotiations between employee and employer representatives fail. “The […]

Vienna’s much-debated “culture euro” is dead, but the city’s search for fresh revenue to fund its cultural scene is far from over. Both the culture and finance departments say they are still looking for “new ways” to secure “sustainable financing” for Vienna’s cultural landscape and that could mean asking residents to pay more directly, reported […]

Protest renewed at EU over Austria’s blocked family reunification VIENNA: A coalition of Austrian NGOs, including Asylkoordination Österreich and Diakonie, has renewed its appeal to the European Commission over Vienna’s new rules on family reunification for refugees. The groups argue that managing family migration for recognised refugees through annual quotas under the Settlement Regulation breaches […]

LOWER AUSTRIA: Austria’s controversial headscarf ban has moved from debate to enforcement, with the first formal complaint now filed in Lower Austria. A 13 year old schoolgirl has become the first pupil reported for violating the rule, which forbids girls under 14 from wearing headscarves on school grounds. Her parents have been reported to the […]

Austria’s governing parties; the conservative Austrian People’s Party, the Social Democrats and the liberal NEOS have agreed on an emergency electricity price cap to protect households and businesses from a shock like the energy crisis of 2022. Under the plan, the net electricity price would be frozen at 10 cents per kilowatt hour if the […]

Austria prolongs checks on four EU borders Austria will extend border controls along its borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia for another six months. The government says the measures are needed to fight people-smuggling networks and further reduce irregular migration. The extension will run until March 2027. The controls will focus less […]