Climate and pension reform: Will the coalition be strong enough?

Climate and pension reform: Will the coalition be strong enough?

Vienna, Österreich - The government program of ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS presented on Thursday causes heated discussions. Holger Bonin, the director of the Institute for Higher Studies (IHS), comments that the government has not "done something wrong". He emphasizes the realistic approach particularly positively, since the coalition is not exaggerated. However, Bonin misses clear approaches in the field of climate protection, which he refers to as a "empty space". According to northernnews.at , climate protection was only addressed in a minimal framework and does not lead to any proactive action of the government.

The focus on the labor market, on the other hand, is praised. Bonin is pleased with the planned support of older workers and the approach to the generation of skilled workers. Nevertheless, he remains skeptical about childcare, where he wants more concrete measures. Financing questions are another topic that he addresses. The program is characterized by financing reservations, which gives the impression that many points have not been fully negotiated. In the case of budget consolidation, however, the numbers were largely taken from Brussels, without a clear future perspective for the coming years, as he can see from vienna.at explained.

Bonin also criticizes the tax policy, which appears to be unpredictable, since loads mostly come up with private households. He criticizes the abolition of the climate bonus, which mainly hit socially weak households, while commuting households tend to be better there. Last but not least, Bonin calls for a long -term view of reforms, especially in the health system and the pension reform. The coalition must consider what the financial framework actually mean in the coming decades in order to react to challenges in good time.