The National Council starts the new parliamentary season with a particularly ambitious session. There will be certain restrictions on child support. The blocked form of partial retirement will be gradually abolished. There are also financial subsidies to the states. An overview.
At the beginning of the plenary session, scheduled for Wednesday, there are two ‘current hours’. The ÖVP has made the additional 4.5 billion euros that it wants to invest in childcare the subject of the start of parliament.
Thanks to the SPÖ, the “Current European Hour” will also have a significant domestic political character. Because it’s about inflation and how other countries would have fought it more effectively. No fewer than ten reports from the Court of Audit follow, with the one on the Corona aid financing company Cofag probably taking up the most speaking time. Below you will find an overview of all topics.
The municipalities will soon receive money – through a special grant of 150 million euros to the states. The aim is to ensure that municipalities do not have to adjust their water and waste rates to full inflation.
Moreover, a change in the contribution to the energy crisis for fossil fuels should result in higher profit skimming by energy companies. This is achieved by increasing the assessment basis for the 2023 energy crisis contribution to the amount by which the taxable profit in 2023 is more than ten percent above the average.
So far, action has only been taken when there are “arbitrary profits” in the oil and gas sector of more than 20 percent. Another proposal gives the Minister of Finance the authority to grant subsidies to Ukraine up to 100 million euros.
A popular form of early retirement will be phased out during Wednesday’s meeting. Blocked partial retirement, which allows people to leave working life earlier, will be abolished, but gradually until 2029. From then on, there will be no more government subsidies for partial retirement schemes.
Changes to parental leave are also not necessarily to the liking of the opposition. In the future, both parents will need at least two months. If you do not do this, you will lose two months of the waiting period and it will only be 22 months. Single parents are exempt from the restriction.
The so-called family time bonus, the financial support for fathers who commit themselves to the family immediately after birth, will be doubled in the future to 47.82 euros per day. Both are intended to result in greater participation of fathers in the care of small children.
Improvements are planned in the area of care leave. In the future, people could also be released to care for close relatives if they do not live in the same household as themselves. There should also be an exemption for caring for people in the same household, even if they are not family members. The requirement of a shared household should also no longer apply to part-time work or free time to supervise seriously ill children.
If the program is not close enough for a group, there is the option of an “urgent request”. As for the opposition, the FPÖ would be first in line.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
