Politicians decide climate protection and new laws - what's in it?

Politicians decide climate protection and new laws - what's in it?

In an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers, decisive decisions were made on December 15 that illustrate the ongoing government work. While the government of ÖVP and the Greens is under internal tension, the climate plan (NEKP) was finally approved after a long struggle. Originally, this should have been presented to the EU in June 2023, but differences between the ministers Leonore Gewessler and Karoline Edtstadler led to significant delays. It was only last August that the EU raised a breach of contract against Austria because the questions about the final version of December still had to be answered, as reported by vienna.at

Furthermore, the approval of changes in the area of ​​cell phone security was decided. The new decision now stipulates that a judicial approval is required before cell phones can be ensured. This was decided in response to the storm damage in September 2024 with a federal benefit grant. In addition to these measures, a zero -wage round for federal politicians was also set in 2025. The officials receive an increase of 3.5 percent for 2025 and a compensation for inflation plus 0.3 percent for 2026, which led to tensions in the ongoing coalition negotiations with SPÖ and Neos.

Current laws and regulations

Currently there are several draft laws on the assessment, including suggestions for tightening the rules against balance sheet veiling and a draft law to contain the sale of nicotine bags to young people. Health Minister Johannes Rauch plans to prohibit the sale of these products to people under the age of 18. In addition, compliance with the women's quota in listed companies is to be regulated by law by Justice Minister Alma Zadić in order to meet the EU directive on the women's quota on supervisory boards, such as bundeskanzleramt . The new regulations also include the possibility of using electronic health data more broadly in the future.