Coalition crisis: Negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS go!

Coalition crisis: Negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS go!

Wien, Österreich - The coalition negotiations between the ÖVP, SPÖ and the Neos are only tough. The technical budget group, consisting of three representatives of the parties, meets on Friday to close the massive budget -hole of over 20 billion euros. The ÖVP boss Karl Nehammer spoke of "approaches" on the Christmas day, but only progress is made "a little bit", as a participant in the talks notes. An agreement is to be reached by mid -January, but the EU could initiate a deficit procedure regardless of this, which extends a renovation of the budget from four to seven years, as the OE24 platform reports.

Tax issues and prestige projects in the focus

A central topic is new tax concepts, in particular the discussion about one millionaire tax and an inheritance tax that is requested by the SPÖ. However, the ÖVP and the NEOS reject these ideas. Instead, assets such as capital gains tax and real estate income tax are debated. The SPÖ is also required to reduce corporate taxes, but meets resistance. A possible increase in the bank levy could also be in the room. This was reported by the Standard news platform.

A total of around 300 people are involved in the coalition negotiations, which are organized in seven main groups and several subgroups. The groups that deal with reforms and the budget budget receive special attention. Both strategic lighthouse projects that are supposed to form the working method of the government, as well as operational budget settings are on the agenda. Among other things, the NEOS call for a comprehensive reform in the areas of education and climate protection, while the SPÖ focuses on health and social security. The ÖVP brings topics such as migration and location policy. So the negotiations have the entire spectrum of topics that moves the republic.