Neos Vienna reveals campaign costs: 2.8 million euros transparent!

Neos Vienna reveals campaign costs: 2.8 million euros transparent!

Wien, Österreich - Neos Vienna launched its transparency offensive for the upcoming Vienna election campaign on April 19, 2025. A new reform proposal obliges the parties to disclose their preliminary election advertising costs a week before the election day. The aim of this initiative, which was legally anchored as part of the progress coalition, is to provide the citizens a clear overview of the financial interests of the parties.

The Neos Vienna announces that their preliminary expenses for the 2025 election campaign are EUR 2,803,546.20. This means that they remain below the legal upper limit of five million euros and within the three million euros communicated during the election campaign. At this point, the party emphasizes the need for transparency, which is considered a central pillar of a fair and modern democracy.

consequences for violations

The new regulations provide clear legal consequences if the parties do not properly publish their expenses or exceed the specified limits. This is intended to ensure that there is no non -transparency that could endanger trust in the democratic process.

In Germany, on the other hand, a report by Deutschlandfunk that the transparency with regard to party donations is still in need of improvement. In 2022, the origin of around 77 percent of party donations remained unknown, which increases the concerns about uncontrollable large donations and their influence on democracy. Transparency International denounces this problem because it could endanger the trust of citizens in political institutions.

donation regulation and their challenges

Current regulations in Germany require donations to be identified from 500 euros and documented from 10,000 euros. Nevertheless, donations below 10,000 euros are excluded from the obligation to disclose. The legal situation stipulates that accounting reports that have to be submitted by September 30 of the following year are not always meaningful. About 87 percent of all donations were recently less than 10,000 euros and thus remained anonymous.

The new regulation of the registration borders for large donations, which was reduced from 50,000 euros to 35,000 euros in March 2024, could contribute to more transparency, but there is still an insufficient supervision, especially when you consider that around 100 million euros in party donations and mandate contributions remained unknown in 2022.

in a climate in which political personalities such as Kevin Kühnert also initiate a discussion about the gaps in the system of party financing, the demand for reforms is getting louder. Transparency International pleads for an upper limit for party donations in order to limit the influence of large donations and thus strengthen trust in democracy. The example of Neos Vienna could serve as a model for more transparent party financing in Germany.

Overall, it can be seen that the pressure on political parties, their finances disclose, is growing in many European countries. The initiatives of Neos Vienna and the critical voices from Germany illustrate that transparency in party financing plays an increasing role in order to consolidate the trust of citizens in democratic processes.