Timetable and discussions – What’s next in poker for the Coalition

On Tuesday afternoon at Palais Epstein, Karl Nehammer and Andreas Babler want to continue where they left off after a dinner before the autumn holidays. From the second round of the Black-Red exploratory talks, experts’ forecasts on budgetary issues will be taken into account and political decisions will be made based on them.

Before the talks, the SPÖ points out that it takes the voters’ mandate seriously and wants to include it in the discussions. “We respect the voters’ desire for change and for solutions to the central challenges,” the red scout team said when asked.

Big solutions instead of minimal compromises
The main election motives are already known from the post-election research: inflation and affordable living, security and migration, health and care and last but not least the climate are the guiding principles for the negotiations, and the topics of work and the economy are also of “central importance”. All these areas will require ‘big solutions to big problems’ rather than minimal compromises.

ÖVP presents timetable
The ÖVP has also already drawn up a precise timetable. “For us, the issues of migration, security, economic location, but also health and care are of crucial importance,” says the ÖVP negotiating team, of which Karoline Edtstadler will also remain a member.

These topics will be discussed over the next two days so that deeper negotiating groups can be established for possible government negotiations.

The negotiating teams have planned two full days for these more intensive exploratory talks. “The first round before the autumn holidays was mainly aimed at shaping the climate between both parties in a constructive manner, now it is time to focus on the content.”

One thing is certain: even if an initial statement is made following today’s conversation, an agreement on cooperation is not yet expected.