Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
More details on cost of living bonus payments, increasing bills for electricity and other services and more news from Austria on Thursday.
More details on how Austria’s €500 cost of living bonus will be paid out
More details have been released about how Austrians will receive their one-off anti-cost-of-living bonus from October, with every adult receiving €500 (€250 climate bonus and €250 crisis bonus) and every child €250. Anyone who has kept or updated their data on the FinanzOnline platform will have the bonus paid directly to their own account, and will not need to take further action.
Those without a FinanzOnline account will receive a voucher in the mail. This does not contain €500 in cash, but a credit note that can be redeemed in two ways. It can either be redeemed in thousands of shops, or it can be converted into cash at just one bank – the bank99 branch.
READ MORE: When will you get your cost of living payment bonuses in Austria?
Schools may have to cut back on ski trips and heating due to energy costs
According to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper, headteachers at Austrian schools are concerned they may not have enough money to heat their schools and fear that school ski courses or further training could be cancelled.
The heating problems are exacerbated by Covid-19 rules which require frequent airing out of classrooms.
Call for more childcare, a more diverse labour force and more education to combat labour shortage
The head of Austria’s AMS unemployment service Johannes Kopf has called for nationwide all-day care for children from their first birthday in order to combat the "massive labour shortage" in Austria. He also recommends that companies rethink their search for personnel, such as giving more women in part-time jobs, older people or people with disabilities a chance.
He also said the government could limit incentives for early retirement and to encourage people to increase their level of education, broadcaster ORF reports.
Government’s vaccination campaign cost two million euros in spring 2022
The cost of a federal government coronavirus vaccination campaign in mid-March under the motto "#GemeinsamGeimpft" (vaccinated together) cost more than €2 million euros by the beginning of June. The campaign involved targeting unvaccinated people with campaigns on TV, radio, print and online media.
Before the campaign started, the federal government had suspended the planned compulsory vaccination for three months - and shortly afterwards the National Council unanimously repealed the law that had been passed for this purpose. The number of vaccinations carried out in Austria have stagnated since then, broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: How Austria’s attempt to make vaccines mandatory changed the country
Energy price increases loom
As The Local reported on Wednesday, EVN and Wien Energie – both part of the Energieallianz Austria (EAA) group – have both announced they will be increasing energy prices from next month.
In an interview with broadcaster ORF, the Managing Director of the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) Franz Angerer said it was not surprising that prices had risen as market prices had soared over the past months. There are very few ways for consumers to save on bills, other than reducing consumption. The fact that Wien Energie and EVN, but not their partner in Energieallianz Austria, Burgenland Energie, are raising prices is because Burgenland produces more wind power. However, experts believe prices will also rise there eventually.
At the same time as the price increase, Wien Energie announced a tariff for regular customers. As a result, Wien Energie customers could reduce the increase to 24 percent for electricity and 50 percent for natural gas, according to a Wien Energie broadcast on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Where are energy prices going up again in Austria
Vienna wants to charge more for waste collection, sewage and parking in 2023
Despite the cost of living crisis, Vienna wants to raise the cost of waste collection, sewage and parking in 2023, according to the Krone newspaper. The newspaper says this will result in an increase of €40 to €60 million to the city’s coffers, though it notes the exact sum depends on the consumer price index.
Austria coping well with climate-change related flooding
A study completed by international researchers in the journal "Nature" cites Austria as a country where flooding has been successfully managed, with the researchers citing the Danube floods of 2002 and 2013 as successful examples.
Although the amount of precipitation in 2013 exceeded that of 2002 and the risk of extreme flooding was generally higher, Austrians got off much lighter in 2013. Compared to the flood of 2002, the amount of damage nine years later was significantly lower.
According to a flood report by the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) , this becomes particularly clear using the example of Marchland. In 2002, there was flood damage in the region of around €500 million. In 2013, however, the damage totalled only around €25 million, broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: How the Danube protects Vienna from catastrophic floods
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More details on how Austria’s €500 cost of living bonus will be paid out
More details have been released about how Austrians will receive their one-off anti-cost-of-living bonus from October, with every adult receiving €500 (€250 climate bonus and €250 crisis bonus) and every child €250. Anyone who has kept or updated their data on the FinanzOnline platform will have the bonus paid directly to their own account, and will not need to take further action.
Those without a FinanzOnline account will receive a voucher in the mail. This does not contain €500 in cash, but a credit note that can be redeemed in two ways. It can either be redeemed in thousands of shops, or it can be converted into cash at just one bank – the bank99 branch.
READ MORE: When will you get your cost of living payment bonuses in Austria?
Schools may have to cut back on ski trips and heating due to energy costs
According to the Wiener Zeitung newspaper, headteachers at Austrian schools are concerned they may not have enough money to heat their schools and fear that school ski courses or further training could be cancelled.
The heating problems are exacerbated by Covid-19 rules which require frequent airing out of classrooms.
Call for more childcare, a more diverse labour force and more education to combat labour shortage
The head of Austria’s AMS unemployment service Johannes Kopf has called for nationwide all-day care for children from their first birthday in order to combat the "massive labour shortage" in Austria. He also recommends that companies rethink their search for personnel, such as giving more women in part-time jobs, older people or people with disabilities a chance.
He also said the government could limit incentives for early retirement and to encourage people to increase their level of education, broadcaster ORF reports.
Government’s vaccination campaign cost two million euros in spring 2022
The cost of a federal government coronavirus vaccination campaign in mid-March under the motto "#GemeinsamGeimpft" (vaccinated together) cost more than €2 million euros by the beginning of June. The campaign involved targeting unvaccinated people with campaigns on TV, radio, print and online media.
Before the campaign started, the federal government had suspended the planned compulsory vaccination for three months - and shortly afterwards the National Council unanimously repealed the law that had been passed for this purpose. The number of vaccinations carried out in Austria have stagnated since then, broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: How Austria’s attempt to make vaccines mandatory changed the country
Energy price increases loom
As The Local reported on Wednesday, EVN and Wien Energie – both part of the Energieallianz Austria (EAA) group – have both announced they will be increasing energy prices from next month.
In an interview with broadcaster ORF, the Managing Director of the Austrian Energy Agency (AEA) Franz Angerer said it was not surprising that prices had risen as market prices had soared over the past months. There are very few ways for consumers to save on bills, other than reducing consumption. The fact that Wien Energie and EVN, but not their partner in Energieallianz Austria, Burgenland Energie, are raising prices is because Burgenland produces more wind power. However, experts believe prices will also rise there eventually.
At the same time as the price increase, Wien Energie announced a tariff for regular customers. As a result, Wien Energie customers could reduce the increase to 24 percent for electricity and 50 percent for natural gas, according to a Wien Energie broadcast on Wednesday.
READ MORE: Where are energy prices going up again in Austria
Vienna wants to charge more for waste collection, sewage and parking in 2023
Despite the cost of living crisis, Vienna wants to raise the cost of waste collection, sewage and parking in 2023, according to the Krone newspaper. The newspaper says this will result in an increase of €40 to €60 million to the city’s coffers, though it notes the exact sum depends on the consumer price index.
Austria coping well with climate-change related flooding
A study completed by international researchers in the journal "Nature" cites Austria as a country where flooding has been successfully managed, with the researchers citing the Danube floods of 2002 and 2013 as successful examples.
Although the amount of precipitation in 2013 exceeded that of 2002 and the risk of extreme flooding was generally higher, Austrians got off much lighter in 2013. Compared to the flood of 2002, the amount of damage nine years later was significantly lower.
According to a flood report by the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) , this becomes particularly clear using the example of Marchland. In 2002, there was flood damage in the region of around €500 million. In 2013, however, the damage totalled only around €25 million, broadcaster ORF reports.
READ MORE: How the Danube protects Vienna from catastrophic floods
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