“As a political nerd” – Schellhorn wants to run for NEOS again

A return of the former Pink MP to politics had been expected for some time. Schellhorn himself now spoke clearly: “I will engage politically,” he said in response to a journalist’s question. “Actually, I always wanted to be chancellor,” the entrepreneur explained, then clarified: “Well, all jokes aside.” For him, it’s all about design, he emphasized. “I’m running for the primaries.” His son takes over the company – and if you are so lucky, then ‘as a political nerd’ and active entrepreneur you naturally want to contribute to making things better.

“Save middle class”
According to NEOS, something is wrong when it comes to entrepreneurship. As part of a tour, the “Mittelstand Stammtisch” hosted small and micro entrepreneurs who spoke about “the big blows that are laid at their feet every day,” according to Meinl-Reisinger. Small and medium-sized businesses form the ‘backbone’ of the economy. At the press conference, the pink demands “to save the middle class” were repeated.

The tax and excise burden is too high for the NEOS. A 6.5 percentage point reduction in indirect labor costs would result in approximately five percent higher net wages at no additional cost to companies, Meinl-Reisinger explains. She once again argued for the expansion of high-quality day care. Michael Bernhard, federal spokesperson for the NEOS business association UNOS, would like to see setting up a company become easier – so the notarial deed should be abolished.

‘Pension expenditure is galloping away’
In view of the upcoming budget speech, Meinl-Reisinger also feared that the space for “future investments” would shrink. Spending on pensions is “galloping” away, and the federal states have not gained too little in the field of financial equality without introducing reforms, she criticized. The NEOS boss called for investments in education and infrastructure. The expected budget shows the “failures of decades of government work, especially the ÖVP in the Ministry of Finance” – “new debts are reliably incurred” “without really implementing reforms”.

Schellhorn wants to abolish the federal states
Schellhorn himself thinks it is a shame that entrepreneurs and employees are constantly played off against each other. The ‘distrust’ of entrepreneurs ‘is not an issue’. To prevent the labor shortage from worsening, the most important thing is for workers to earn more and cost less, he says. There just has to be more left. That is why he is against the ‘sham fights’ of the social partners in wage negotiations – instead they must appear together before the politicians, who in turn must create the framework conditions. In general, Schellhorn denounced bureaucracy and duplication; he said that he would rather abolish the states.