Consumer protection budget remains stable-what does that mean for you?
Consumer protection budget remains stable-what does that mean for you?
Österreich - On June 10, 2025, in Austria about consumer protection and the associated financial resources are debated. The budget for consumer protection remains almost constant, with 8.18 million euros for 2025 and 8.1 million euros for 2026. However, it is unclear where exactly should be saved because the majority of the budget, around 5 million euros for 2025, is intended for the association for consumer information (VKI) and other organizations. The remaining funds amount to 3 million euros for 2025 and 2 million euros for 2026, especially for work contracts with the VKI and studies on the participation in the standards. These details were published in a press release from The financing of the VKI is very popular. The consumer protection minister Johannes Rauch recently presented a report on the financing of the Association for Consumer Information for 2023. This provides for a maximum of 3,728,780 euros in funding that was promised in 2023. A new funding contract for the VKI applies until December 31, 2025, and the order fee for the work contract for enforcing consumer rights amounts to 1.15 million euros. In the past few years the remuneration was lower.
Current developments and challenges
The budget for the complaint was increased by 5 % to 1.3 million euros, which contributes positively to the enforcement of consumer rights. In 2026, a saving of 80,000 euros is planned as part of a consolidation contribution. The internet combined office receives 266,000 euros for 2025, although it has already processed 11,000 cases in the previous year. Despite the extensive resources, the degree of awareness of consumer setting is still less than 30 %.
A central point of renewals is the upcoming reform of the 2004 product security law. A draft has already been drawn up, which should better meet the current requirements. This is done against the background that regulations are already being passed in the EU that aims at improved protective measures against "greenwashing".
In order to support women in a targeted manner, a financial education strategy was launched, which includes workshops such as "Coco Lab" and "Coco Fin". In addition, informative explanatory videos are being planned. The women's accusation is seen as a strategic partner in this educational strategy and should contribute to improving financial education.
overarching legal developments
In order to create a broader context, significant changes in consumer protection laws have taken place in Germany. The legislative process for the implementation of the omnibus guideline and the guidelines on consumer goods purchases and digital content have been successfully completed. This led to the adoption of the law for fair consumer contracts, which leads to requirements beyond EU law. The new regulations include an extended reversal of the evidence and stricter obligations of companies in relation to the provision of information and updates.
companies that offer goods or services must adapt to these new laws and check their general terms and conditions and internal processes. The guideline for association lawsuits adopted by the EU, which must be implemented in national law by June 25, 2023, will also significantly strengthen the enforcement of consumer rights. These developments, which are also important for Austria, are taken up by Overall, the upcoming measures and continuous budgeting for consumer protection ensure that consumers' interests will continue to be preserved in the future. However, the challenges such as the modernization of the laws and the transparency question for services will remain and need continuous attention.
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