2023-11-10 22:58:06
Funding should be available for photovoltaics and emission-free commercial vehicles
Vienna (PK) – He took note of the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens Budget Committee on Friday evening the revision of the Austrian recovery and resilience plan 2020-2026. According to Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler, an additional €210.3 million from EU funds is available for the energy transition. The MPs also took note of several other reports on budget topics such as a detailed insight into the Austrian budget planning for 2024.
Revision of the Austrian recovery and resilience plan
For the EU development instrument “Next Generation EU”, changed measures in the Austrian recovery and resilience plan 2020 to 2026 required a revision of the plan (III-1034 d.B.). The focus is on reducing dependence on fossil fuels, expanding renewable energies and the infrastructure required for this, decarbonizing the transport and building sectors, and simplifying and standardizing planning and approval procedures. Austria has applied for €210.3 million from the EU fund for the corresponding additional “REPowerEU” chapter in the plan. Specifically, €140.3 million is earmarked for photovoltaic systems and electricity storage. The costs for promoting zero-emission commercial vehicles are estimated at €70 million, as Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler explained. According to the minister, this means that the non-repayable subsidies for Austria will increase again. In total, the plan includes a volume of €3.96 billion in grants. Gerhard Kaniak (FPÖ), among others, discussed buffer storage for photovoltaic systems in the debate. According to Gewessler, there has always been a funding opportunity since she took office. She told Alois Stöger (SPÖ) that we are only just beginning to convert larger fleets of heavy commercial vehicles to renewable energy. According to an expert from the Ministry of Finance, he was not aware of any problems with data publications that Karin Doppelbauer (NEOS) discussed. With “REPowerEU”, a publication requirement for the 100 largest funding recipients was built in, he said.
Overview of the Austrian budget planning for 2024
As part of the overview of the Austrian budget planning for 2024, the Finance Minister provides a detailed insight into the budget design for 2024 (III-1044 d.B.). The 2024 budget is therefore shaped by numerous factors. In addition to the financial equalization for 2024-2028, this also includes future investments such as the promotion of science, universities as well as the climate-neutral transformation of companies and the expansion of public infrastructure. In addition, the abolition of cold progression and the indexation of social benefits have a considerable impact on the budget, the extensive report states. There was a majority acceptance of this in the budget committee with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens.
Regarding a reduction in corporate tax, Christoph Matznetter (SPÖ) suggested that smaller companies should be given more consideration in such measures in the future and that larger ones should be considered to be taxed and increased. In contrast, Karlheinz Kopf (ÖVP) said that the upcoming reduction in corporate tax would also lead to increasing the attractiveness of the business location. The equivalent to this is the profit allowance, so we also look at individual companies subject to income tax.
Kai Jan Krainer (SPÖ) and Gerald Loacker (NEOS), for example, expressed criticism regarding the compatibility of the developments in the Austrian budget in comparison with the Austrian position in EU fiscal policy. According to Finance Minister Magnus Brunner, there will be new EU fiscal rules. A decision on this could possibly be made in December, but he cannot yet predict this exactly. As far as the interest burden on debts is concerned, which Gerhard Kaniak (FPÖ) raised, for example, according to the finance minister, the requirements of the Commission proposal should be met according to calculations and scenarios. When asked by Kai Jan Krainer (SPÖ), the minister admitted that with new EU fiscal rules, the domestic fiscal rules would also have to be renegotiated. According to the budget estimate, the debt rule will be suspended in 2024. In contrast, Krainer criticized, among other things, the fact that the debt rule will not be adhered to in any of the coming years and that the budget contradicts everything that the federal government is demanding at EU level. A ministry expert said that according to the data, the debt reduction rules were being adhered to.
Development of the 2023 federal budget influenced by the economy and inflation
The Finance Minister’s report on the development of the federal budget from January to September 2023 as well as on the monitoring of debt and investment activity in municipalities (143/BA) was accepted by a majority with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens. The development of the federal budget is strongly influenced by the slowdown in the international economy, high inflation and the resulting sharp rise in interest rates, the report states. The federal government’s net financing balance amounts to €-7.5 billion at the end of September 2023. This is €3.3 billion better than in the previous year. The balance was burdened by higher interest rates and higher costs for teaching staff, universities, investment bonuses and national defense. However, economic-related additional deposits (+€1.1 billion) and lower payments for COVID-19 measures (-€5.6 billion) as well as for relief and security of supply (-€1.1 billion) had a positive effect on the balance. At €77.2 billion, adjusted payouts through September were €1.6 billion (+2.1%) higher than in 2022. Adjusted deposits amounted to €69.8 billion, increasing by €4.9 billion. € (+7.6%). The gross investments of the municipalities develop continuously in the long term. In 2022, these reached a new high of €4.403 billion. The public debt at municipal level (including Vienna) fell from 2021 to 2022 to €19.5 billion or 4.5% of GDP.
With a majority of votes from the coalition parties, the MPs also took note of the Finance Minister’s report on the monthly results for 2023, including the ongoing reports on COVID-19 crisis management (137/BA).
Excess use of funds in the third quarter of 2023
In the third quarter of 2023, overuse of funds amounting to €990.8 million in the financing budget and €989.2 million in the earnings budget were approved. This emerges from a corresponding report by the Finance Minister (139/BA), which was noted by the majority of the ÖVP and the Greens in the committee. 53% of the excesses were covered by additional deposits, 25% by loans and 22% by reallocations. The largest overrun was a total of €400 million for measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The reserve balance as of September 30, 2023 is €19.416 billion. In the third quarter of 2023, advance charges totaling €62.5 million were approved. The highest prior burden is €50.4 million for the implementation of women’s advancement programs.
Report on the European Financial Stability Facility
The cumulative interest income from the bilateral loans according to the Balance of Payments Stabilization Act for Greece amounted to around €152.2 million at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2023, informs the Finance Minister (140/BA). Since Greece has so far repaid €236.9 million to Austria, the outstanding loan amount to Austria still amounts to around €1.32 billion. This is to be repaid as planned by 2041, although further early repayments have already been announced. The legally relevant level of Austrian liabilities for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was around €9.31 billion for capital. In total, the federal government’s liabilities (for capital plus interest, including excess guarantees) for financing the EFSF amounted to around €10.56 billion. No new measures were taken on the EFSF financial assistance programs for Ireland and Portugal during the reporting period. The report was noted in the committee by the ÖVP, the Greens and NEOS.
Even within the framework of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), no new measures to support stability were taken in the most recent quarter. This concerns Spain, Cyprus and Greece (141/BA). The ESM annual report for 2022 and the ESM financial statements for the first half of 2023 were presented to the responsible subcommittee, according to the measures report for the third quarter of 2023, which the Budget Committee also noted with the votes of the coalition parties and NEOS.
Report on impact orientation 2022 and participation report 2024
The report on impact orientation 2022 (138/BA) and the participation report 2024 (142/BA) were unanimously assigned to the budget subcommittee for further consideration. The report on impact orientation 2022 provides a look at the degree of achievement of impact goals set out in the federal budget. Of the 118 impact goals formulated, 69 were achieved ahead of schedule or in full. The intended effect “predominantly” occurred for a further 33 targets. The effect was not achieved or was only partially achieved in 15 impact objectives. Compared to the previous year, the ministry has noticed a leveling off of the effects of the corona pandemic. The ministry has drawn up its own report to take actual equality between women and men into account. 20 of 35 equality goals were achieved ahead of schedule or in full, nine were “mainly” achieved, and five other goals were “partially” achieved.
According to the investment report, the federal government’s investments in 101 companies such as Verbund AG, the ÖBB Group and the universities amounted to a total of €31.3 billion in 2022, according to the investment report. For 2024, payments of €18.355 billion are estimated to the units covered, 4.2% more than planned for 2023. The companies included in the report employed a total of 119,814 employees (full-time equivalents – FTE) in 2022. (Final Budget Committee) mbu
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