Chamber of Commerce: Forced membership or freedom for entrepreneurs?

Chamber of Commerce: Forced membership or freedom for entrepreneurs?

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - In Austria, a conflict is raging over compulsory membership in the chambers of business. Recently, the freedom of business spokeswoman NABG. Dr. Barbara Kolm that the government should immediately submit a regulation to cancel this compulsory membership. According to Kolm, entrepreneurs suffer from high compulsory levies that are not only expensive, but also outdated. It described the system as patronizing and an obstacle to the necessary reforms, such as the trade regulations, and criticized the monopoly of the Chamber of Commerce to represent the interest. "It is time for a change," said Kolm, which referred to the voluntary system of the Chamber of Commerce in the USA and called for an opt-out for entrepreneurs to be able to choose between different chambers in competition. According to Kolm, this would promote the identification of the members and increase the turnout on chamber elections, which continues to decrease due to the paternalism of the chamber fractions.

This advance comes against the background that the public perception of economic chambers in Austria becomes increasingly critical. While in most other European countries, such as Norway or Sweden, membership in trade union representations is voluntary, there are compulsory membership in Austria and only a few other regions such as Bremen and Saarland. This situation is often presented by the chambers as without an alternative, which, according to reports from Agenda Austria, does not have to correspond to reality. In many European countries, you can benefit as a company without membership in an employers' association of collective contractual regulations. This shows that the Austrian system of wage finding is very centralized and not very flexible, which does not always favor the market conditions for companies.

political interdependencies and challenging structures

The close link between the interests of interests and politics is also often criticized. The chambers are not only active in the formulation of the law, but also represent important power bases for the large parties ÖVP and SPÖ. According to a comprehensive investigation into political relationships in Austria, there are also large interdependencies between chamber representatives and government positions. This development could endanger the independence of the chambers and raise questions about the legitimacy of their role. It becomes clear that the balance of power between the chambers and politics have a decisive influence on entrepreneurial action in Austria, which will not remain without consequences for the entrepreneurs, as Barbara Kolm urged.