The focus: the focus: Conference of the country bosses in the Luxury Hotel Krallerhof

The focus: the focus: Conference of the country bosses in the Luxury Hotel Krallerhof

Leogang, Österreich - Wilfried Haslauer, Governor of Salzburg (ÖVP), selected the five-star Hotel Krallerhof in Leogang as an event location for the upcoming conference of the country bosses in early June. This conference aims to develop savings plans for the budget. The heads of the federal government will also take part in the talks, including Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (Neos), as Krone

The Krallerhof is known for its exclusive equipment and offers the participants a pleasant working environment. The conference is supplemented by special welcome gifts, including bouquets and bottles of Dom Perignon. In addition, a spacious spa area is available that houses one of the largest collections of the artist Hermann Nitsch in Austria.

new stability pact in sight

The conference aims to negotiate a new stability pact that is supposed to unknown the financial flows between the federal government, the states and the municipalities. This is part of the comprehensive efforts to renovate the budget. A first meeting for budget renovation was recently held in the Ministry of Finance, in which representatives of the federal government, the states and communities took part. These participants spoke out for common savings, while Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) underlined the urgency of the measures in order to cope with the currently high budget deficit and the increasing government debt.

Negotiations for the new stability pact should begin at the end of May, with the aim of submitting a concept for distribution of the debt opportunities by September. The current stability pact, which has been in effect since 2012, allows a maximum of 0.45% of GDP, whereby countries and municipalities are limited to 0.1% and the federal government to 0.35%, such as MeinDärzirk explained.

preparation for big changes

The upcoming talks represent the largest budget renovation project in Austrian history, which is to be effective by 2026. Wilfried Haslauer sees the countries in a "two -stage task": on the one hand the adaptation of the budgets that have already been decided and on the other hand the preparation of new consolidation measures. He emphasizes that a secure data situation for the negotiations is essential.

Finance State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) also announced the creation of a “support tisskskforce”, which is intended to check the efficiency of existing subsidies. Neos State Secretary Josef Schellhorn calls for basic reforms and refers to a saving potential of 15%. While the poor economic development leads to a higher deficit, the municipal association President Johannes Pressl (ÖVP) shows the willingness of the communities to take responsibility.