Austrian Elections & Politics - Version 1.0

[Tender Branson]

78% of Austrians are not satisfied with the new coalition.

Also, the most popular party leader right now is Matthias Strolz (NEOS) with a 44-15 positive rating.

And: The new cabinet members are doing relatively well so far, with Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz leading the ranking and Interior Minister Mikl-Leitner last.

(right-click for huge version)

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for the Standard:

26% FPÖ (+5.5)
24% SPÖ (-3.0)
20% ÖVP (-4.0)
12% Greens (-0.5)
11% NEOS (+6.0)
  2% TS (-4.0)
  2% BZÖ (-1.5)
  3% Others

"Grand" SPÖVP Coalition down 44-49.

http://derstandard.at/1385171979834/Regierungskurs-unbeliebter-als-Schwarz-Blau-2003

[Tender Branson]

Austria is now falling into (political) hibernation until Jan. 6

The next important thing is presenting the 2014 (plus maybe even the 2015) budget in Mid/End-February.

Preliminary estimates (using the first 11 months) indicate that the deficit this year is around 1.8% and that should be lowered to about 1.5% next year.

[Tender Branson]

Austria is now falling into (political) hibernation until Jan. 6

The next important thing is presenting the 2014 (plus maybe even the 2015) budget in Mid/End-February.

Preliminary estimates (using the first 11 months) indicate that the deficit this year is around 1.8% and that should be lowered to about 1.5% next year.

Courts (see below) have now ordered that the 3 Austrian mobile phone carriers must pay the network auction fees of 2 Bio. € in December.

On the other hand, the Hypo bank needed another 800 Mio. € in state aid.

That leaves at least 1.2 Bio. € in additional government revenues for December.

This will lower the Austrian deficit this year to about 1.5% of the GDP.

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[Tender Branson]

So, the 27-year old youngest foreign minister of the EU - Sebastian Kurz - headed to Croatia for his first official trip and already created some controversy (well, not Kurz himself, but a Serbian politician and Kurz's name in general):

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LOL.

[Tender Branson]

New Tyrol state elections poll by GMK:



The current government is ÖVP-Greens.

http://www.meinbezirk.at/nassereith/politik/exklusiv-die-grosse-bezirksblaetterumfrage-zum-jahreswechsel-d795381.html

[Tender Branson]

Chancellor Werner Faymann and Defense & Sports Minister Gerald Klug will head to the Sochi Olympics after all:



Said Faymann: "It would be wrong not to go to Russia and to show support for our athletes, who are giving their best there."

http://derstandard.at/1385172425128/Faymann-faehrt-nach-Sotschi

It was not clear if Faymann or the President, Heinz Fischer, would participate.

A boycott like the German & French Presidents was never a question ...

[Tender Branson]

The ÖVP-heavyweight and governor of Lower Austria, Erwin Pröll, has once again ruled out a candidacy for President in 2016:

http://noe.orf.at/news/stories/2623342

That would make it easier for Parliamentary speaker Barbara Prammer (SPÖ) to become the first woman as President (assuming she wants to run and she recovers fully from her current cancer illness).

[Tender Branson]

BTW:

Barbara Prammer's (pronounced "Pruh-mma") initials are the same as those for "Bundespräsident" (Federal President).



Good for 2016 campaign posters ...

[Tender Branson]

The new law for the modest tax increases (1 Bio. €) & spending cuts (0.5 Bio. €) this year has been drafted and was presented yesterday. It will be passed next month and become law on March 1.

Taxes that will be increased involve tobacco products, alcohol products, the NoVa tax for new car sales, the motor-related insurance tax for all cars and increased taxes for persons who earn more than 14.000€ a month ("solidarity tax").

Proposals for accross-the-board spending cuts for all ministries will be worked out in the next weeks.

The 2014 budget will be presented by Finance Minister Spindelegger on April 29 before the National Council - together with the 2015 budget. The 2014 budget will have a deficit of 1.5% of GDP and will be passed in parliament in May. The 2015 budget, even though it is presented together with the 2014 budget, will be passed in the fall though (because of the law).

The 2013 Maastricht budget deficit was around 1.7% (-0.8%) of GDP according to preliminary figures, the debt as a percentage of GDP was 73.7% (-0.3%), according to the Fiscal Council.

The exact figures will be published at the end of March by Statistics Austria.

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/die-neuen-steuern-kommen-schon-ab-1-maerz/44.845.539

[Tender Branson]

The RBI bank might pay back their state-aid this year, which would be more than welcome news for the budget:

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-08/raiffeisen-to-sell-3-billion-new-shares-to-redeem-state-aid

...

Of course, there's still the Hypo and 2 other banks that might need another cash infusion by the government this year.

Finance Minister Spindelegger has said though that "a plan to restructure the Hypo will be presented this year".

[Tender Branson]

My tax increase for this year will be:

3.7€ per month

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/autofahrer-und-raucher-zahlen-zeche/45.019.272

The motor-related insurance tax for my car (105 PS) will increase by 44.5€ this year, according to the tax calculator in the link.

...

Only my car insurance tax will be increased.

I don't smoke and rarely drink alcohol, so no taxes here for me.

I also do not earn more than 14.000€ a month, so no new taxes here either.

And I don't buy a new car, so no increased NoVa tax for me.

[Tender Branson]

Gov. Niessl (SPÖ) said yesterday that he wants to remain as Governor after the 2015 Burgenland state election, if "he remains healthy and the people want it".

http://derstandard.at/1388650576569/Niessl-will-Landeshauptmann-bleiben

[Yeahsayyeah]

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Has anyone mentioned, weither the Croation slang term is actually derived from the German word "kurz" (short), maybe even of anti-Austrian sentiment resp. mocking in the Danube mocharchy? Just curious.

[Tender Branson]

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Has anyone mentioned, weither the Croation slang term is actually derived from the German word "kurz" (short), maybe even of anti-Austrian sentiment resp. mocking in the Danube mocharchy? Just curious.

That would be interesting. But I don't speak Croatian and Google Translate doesn't translate the Croatian "Kurz" to German either. So it could mean "Penis" in Croatian, or "short" or something completely different ... But there's a chance it goes back to the Austro-Hungarian time, yeah.

[ObserverIE]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Has anyone mentioned, weither the Croation slang term is actually derived from the German word "kurz" (short), maybe even of anti-Austrian sentiment resp. mocking in the Danube mocharchy? Just curious.

That would be interesting. But I don't speak Croatian and Google Translate doesn't translate the Croatian "Kurz" to German either. So it could mean "Penis" in Croatian, or "short" or something completely different ... But there's a chance it goes back to the Austro-Hungarian time, yeah.

The word is "kurac", pronounced "ku-rats".

[Tender Branson]

The first round-table meeting of the new SPÖVP government has just concluded and there's some press conference right now.



One key point coming out of that Regierungsklausur is a mandate for education/training for every kid until the age of 18, starting in 2016.

If a kid until 18 is not in either some kind of school, apprenticeship, training etc. - their parents can be fined up to 400€.

Also, family benefits will be raised by 1 Bio. € over the next 5 years.

Also, more investments into the labour market, to keep old workers in their jobs, for infrastructure (especially rail transport & cargo) and affordable housing as well as incentives for small business owners to hire people.



http://derstandard.at/1388650932174/Die-neue-Regierung-geht-auf-Klausur

[Tender Branson]

The English version of the Working Programme of the new SPÖVP government for 2013-18 (114 pages) is now online:

http://www.bka.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=53588

For those who are very interested ...

[Tender Branson]

In 6-7 years, the Austrian Parliament will finally look more like this on the inside:



... and not like this anymore:



...

There's now green light for the renovation of the Parliament building (about 150 years old), starting in 2017/18 and to be finished 2-3 years later for 350 Mio. €:

http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/1546357/Umbau-fixiert_Parlament-zieht-in-die-Hofburg

[Tender Branson]

2 new polls:

Gallup/Ö24

24% FPÖ (+3.5)
24% SPÖ (-3.0)
21% ÖVP (-3.0)
14% Greens (+1.5)
12% NEOS (+7.0)
  1% TS (-5.0)
  4% Others

Meinungsraum/NEWS

26% FPÖ (+5.5)
26% SPÖ (-1.0)
19% ÖVP (-5.0)
12% NEOS (+7.0)
12% Greens (-0.5)
  1% TS (-5.0)
  4% Others

...

On average, it's 25% FPÖ, 25% SPÖ, 20% ÖVP, 13% Greens, 12% NEOS, 1% TS, 4% Others.

The "Grand" SPÖVP coalition currently gets 45% support, the opposition has 51% (or 50% without the TS, which is below the 4% threshold).

SPÖ+Greens+NEOS would have a majority.

[Tender Branson]

This will serve as the interim Austrian Parliament during the time of renovation of the actual Parliament building between 2017/18 and 2020:

The Big Ballroom in the Hofburg, the residence of the Austrian President, that is usually used for international meetings (John F. Kennedy met Nikita Khrushchev there once), balls and seminars.

[njwes]

This will serve as the interim Austrian Parliament during the time of renovation of the actual Parliament building between 2017/18 and 2020:

The Big Ballroom in the Hofburg, the residence of the Austrian President, that is usually used for international meetings (John F. Kennedy met Nikita Khrushchev there once), balls and seminars.

Nice, any idea what artist did the panels and ceiling?

[MaxQue]

This will serve as the interim Austrian Parliament during the time of renovation of the actual Parliament building between 2017/18 and 2020:

The Big Ballroom in the Hofburg, the residence of the Austrian President, that is usually used for international meetings (John F. Kennedy met Nikita Khrushchev there once), balls and seminars.

Nice, any idea what artist did the panels and ceiling?

An internet search is saying it is Josef Mikl who did it in the mid 90's, atfer the room was destroyed by a fire in 1992. Tender probably knows more about it, having access to German-language information.

[Tender Branson]

This will serve as the interim Austrian Parliament during the time of renovation of the actual Parliament building between 2017/18 and 2020:

The Big Ballroom in the Hofburg, the residence of the Austrian President, that is usually used for international meetings (John F. Kennedy met Nikita Khrushchev there once), balls and seminars.

Nice, any idea what artist did the panels and ceiling?

An internet search is saying it is Josef Mikl who did it in the mid 90's, atfer the room was destroyed by a fire in 1992. Tender probably knows more about it, having access to German-language information.

Yeah, in late 1992 parts of the Hofburg were totally destroyed by a huge fire that grew inside for an hour or so, before a fire detector went off and alarmed the firefighters.

A lot of historic ballrooms, paintings and other art were destroyed.

It was renovated and re-opened in 1997.

Josef Mikel, an artist from Vienna, was asked to do the panels and ceiling.

You can read more about it on his English website version:

http://en.josef-mikl.com/grosser-redoutensaal_

Click on

* Chronology
* Ceiling painting
* Mural paintings
* Lamps

on the left side.

[Tender Branson]

Frank Stronach will completely pull out of his "Team Stronach" in the next week (no funding anymore) and will step down as MP in the Austrian Parliament and head back to Canada "forever":

http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/1547606/StronachRuckzug-aus-Parlament-noch-im-Jaenner

Rouven Ertlschweiger, the next on the federal list, will replace him in the Austrian Parliament.

Stronach has also said that he won't fund the EU elections, so the TS might not compete in this one.

In the last federal polls, the party was at 1% ...