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The municipalities receive aid worth 1,500 million euros.
The National Council decided on new corona measures Wednesday night. On the one hand, the municipalities receive aid worth 1,500 million euros, on the other hand, the FFP2 masks were exempt from VAT until mid-year. In a motion for a resolution initiated by the SPÖ, the coalition also commits to providing corona tests at home free of charge. The latter, of course, is just an expression of will for the moment.
First of all, on Wednesday it had to be guaranteed by law that the relevant tests could even be used by non-professionals if there was a manufacturer’s safety guarantee. The FPÖ was outraged and accused the government, in the person of health spokesman Gerhard Kaniak, of endangering the health of Austrians with inadequate testing.
The coalition, SPÖ and NEOS are campaigning to make these tests available to Austrians free of charge. They must be dispensed through pharmacies, for example. However, as the motions for resolutions are not binding, this measure has yet to be decided.
The Neos, on the other hand, were upset by the FFP2 obligation, which will apply from Monday to retail and public transport. According to health spokesman Gerald Loacker, these masks are not intended for lay people. Instead, one should have relied on so-called CPA masks, for which there are significantly more producers in Austria. Instead, China is now being asked for “scrap”.
The parish package rejected by the SPÖ and FPÖ was also quite controversial. There was severe criticism in the related debate. The two opposition parties criticize the fact that most of the aid needs to be repaid, which would further inhibit investments.
Mayors criticize municipal package
Both the Social Democrats and the Freedom Party sent mayors to the front line of the debate. Andreas Kollross, head of the Trumau municipality in Lower Austria, spoke of a “pipe error”. Because: “The plot is paid by the municipalities themselves.” In reality, there are only 100 million and communities are an important factor when investing to get out of the crisis.
For the same reasons, Erwin Angerer, the local head of Mühldorf in Carinthia, saw a “community cargo package”. He also criticized the fact that the different levels of concern of municipalities are not taken into account when providing aid.
This was also recognized by NEOS president Karin Doppelbauer. Therefore, he asked for an evaluation, also assured by the coalition. In addition, he demanded that the return to the states of funds not allocated to municipalities be regulated.
However, the coalition enjoyed the package. Help quickly and without bureaucracy, praised mandate of Vice President Manfred Hofinger. Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) called the grants “correct and important”. The green mandate Elisabeth Götze identified a milestone for communities capable of acting.
Specifically, the project includes increasing the revenue share of municipalities by 400 million euros and special advances in the revenue sharing of municipalities of around one billion euros. The interest-free repayment should start in 2023 at the earliest. In addition, the structural fund will be increased by 100 million euros for municipalities with a particularly weak structure.
Also dedicated to Corona was the “Urgent Motion” from today’s National Council meeting, presented by NEOS, which was rejected by the coalition. NEOS wanted an extension of the tax deferrals until the middle of the year. In addition, the carry-over of operating losses will extend until 2017.
To this end, an amendment to combat terrorism and money laundering was resolved. Provides account reports in the loan business and payment accounts. A locker report from credit institutions and commercial locker providers is also planned. There is also an expanded review of the account register for the authorities. FPÖ and NEOS vehemently rejected the change of law.
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