After months of bickering within the coalition and with much delay, Austria sends the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) to Brussels. However, there is no real agreement between the ÖVP and the Greens; the People’s Party is already taking a defensive stance when it comes to the abolition of the diesel privilege and the travel allowance.
While Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) presents the end of all climate-damaging subsidies such as diesel or company car privileges as a given, the ÖVP strongly contradicts this. “We have agreed to abolish climate-damaging subsidies,” Gewessler said at the presentation of the paper. “We are now finally tackling issues such as the diesel privilege or the tax benefit for company cars.”
ÖVP is already taking a defensive stance
The ÖVP denies this. The responsible Finance Minister Magnus Brunner: The detailed measures that will be taken have “not yet been clarified”. “Specific subsidies, such as the diesel privilege or the travel allowance, are not explicitly mentioned in the plan. What is in the plan is the analysis of all climate-counterproductive subsidies by a working group of the Ministry of Finance, which we will set up in the autumn.”
In the professional world, between environmental protection organizations, business, science and industry, but also in the opposition, the reactions are completely contradictory. Some see economic decline, others see long-awaited progress. For example, the transport club VCÖ welcomes the plan and urges a rapid implementation of the measures. The NGO ‘attack’, on the other hand, sees a plan ‘without impact’.
Light and shadow in the turquoise green floor plan
The NEKP shows how Austria can halve its climate-damaging emissions by 2030. The environmental protection organisations Greenpeace and GLOBAL 2000 welcome this. However, they lack binding guidelines and criticise the fact that the plan partly relies on carbon capture to achieve the reduction target. The climate plan includes light and shadow, the think tank ‘oeculution’ summarises. Some measures must be seen as positive, but there are also considerable risks for Austria as a location.
Much criticism from the business community
The economy itself is largely critical. The Chamber of Commerce fears that security of supply and competitiveness are not receiving enough attention. “Energy policy should not be viewed unilaterally, but should reconcile the decarbonisation of the economy, security of supply and the competitiveness of our companies,” according to the Chamber of Commerce. The industrial association and the car industry are similar: they see “excessive voluntary obligations at the expense of competitiveness” and fear a premature end to the combustion engine.
The FPÖ even sees the climate plan as a “death blow to individual mobility, medium-sized businesses and the economy”. There is a risk that the diesel privilege and the travel allowance will come to an end. The Blues suspect that the NoVA will probably also be increased. For the SPÖ, however, the plan does not go far enough. They only see declarations of intent from the climate minister, which the ÖVP has already toned down as ‘overinterpretation’.
“It is scandalous and inglorious how the Greens are trying to present themselves as doers before the elections, even though nothing is safe,” says SPÖ climate spokesperson Julia Herr. NEOS climate spokesperson Michael Bernhard also encountered empty promises and nice headlines.
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.