With a ‘location summit’ planned at short notice and taking place on Thursday at Fronius in Sattledt, the turquoise green leadership of the federal government wanted to show that we can still work together. In terms of content, efforts were made to strengthen the Austrian and European location.
There was a large crowd at the flagship technology company in Sattledt: Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher (both ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and Minister of Climate Leonore Gewessler (both Greens) met at Fronius on Thursday morning with representatives from the business community, especially Fronius CEO Elisabeth Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß. She had recently complained repeatedly that the PV industry – Fronius specializes in inverters – was facing Chinese competition.
A change in the law is planned
After the hour and a half round behind closed doors, Kogler presented a “Made in Europe bonus” initiated by Gewessler to the assembled press. This is intended to support companies that depend on European value creation in the field of solar photovoltaics. Gewessler would like to achieve this through a change in the Renewable Expansion Act (EAG). “This could happen for the whole of Europe, but we could also make progress in Austria,” says Kogler. “We can certainly do it in Austria if we want to do it together.” However, the proposed change in law requires a two-thirds majority.
Nehammer takes the EU to task
Nehammer, however, was cautious about pushing ahead nationally: “We are in the process of launching this initiative at European level and the location summit is the task of the Minister of Economic Affairs to find ways to implement this.” at European and national level: he called for a “course correction” in the EU, “away from regulation”.
Stelzer advocates more opportunities for innovation
For LH Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP), the main point is to ensure that it does not become more attractive for Austrian or Upper Austrian companies to move their production to other parts of the world, but to stay here. He emphasizes that “more innovation” must be allowed again in Europe.
Praise from the Fronius boss
Full support for the “Made in Europe Bonus” came from the host of the summit: “To link the expansion targets in renewable technologies more closely to European value creation in the future, it should be possible to make future technologies stronger in Europe than comparable products made in China,” said Fronius boss Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß after the appointment.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
