At a presentation of the election program and posters as well as the opening of the campaign headquarters in the SPÖ federal office, top candidate Andreas Schieder appealed to create green and social jobs in Europe. A shift to the right on June 9th could only be prevented with one vote for the SPÖ, he emphasized again.
Schieder, who wants to come first in the election, is worried about the “extremely heated” political climate. As an example of this, he cited the attack on the German SPD politician Matthias Ecke while hanging up election posters. But the posters of the FPÖ, which is currently leading in the polls, are also “styleless,” and the Freedom Party is also known for “fake news.” The ÖVP, whose top candidate Reinhold Lopatka actively distances himself from the FPÖ, is not credible in this matter.
“Europe First statt Made in China”
The SPÖ wants to “shape Europe positively” and under the slogan “Europe First instead of Made in China” also support industry, bring back jobs and invest in innovation, said Schieder, after all, the EU should not be dependent on China. The SPÖ wants to set up an “EU transformation fund” that will finance investments in measures to reduce CO2 emissions. Private jets are to be banned at European airports and an express train system is to be established to connect European capitals.
Electricity that is generated with renewable energy must be protected from “artificially induced price increases,” it says in the program. Instead, energy prices should be based on the average costs of production. They want to hold large corporations and the super-rich accountable – with effective taxes on companies, windfall profits, digital corporations, financial transactions and particularly high private assets. The supply chain law needs to be sharpened; the SPÖ wants clear obligations and sanctions in all areas as well as an expansion of the scope.
“Affordable life”
Where profits are made, they should also be taxed, said Evelyn Regner, second on the list. The SPÖ would also like to abandon the unanimity principle in the European Council in the area of tax policy. One cannot accept that individual member states are “tax loopholes,” said Schieder. The SPÖ also wants a right of initiative, i.e. the right to introduce draft laws, for the EU Parliament.
The Social Democrats also want an “affordable life in a social Europe” in which there is no austerity policy. Ultimately, public investments should not be made at the expense of the welfare state, as the election manifesto states. There should be immediate EU aid for families most affected by poverty, as well as a “right to a warm home” and thus a ban on turning off people from gas, electricity or district heating. There should be no more privatization of “public assets” – groundwater, for example, cannot be owned.
Standardized asylum procedures
If you want to stop dying in the Mediterranean, you have to act together across Europe, said Schieder about the ideas in the asylum sector. The SPÖ wants standardized asylum procedures and a solidarity-based distribution of those entitled to asylum. Return agreements should be negotiated with countries of origin and transit, and asylum applications can also be submitted in “EU asylum centers” outside Europe. The EU should actively participate in overcoming military conflicts; neutral Austria should not take part in an EU army.
Regner also emphasized the importance of the EU for women’s rights. Here, the SPÖ’s program focuses, among other things, on abortion, which should become a fundamental right in the EU. In addition, the member states and thus also Austria should completely decriminalize it.
