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ÖVP, SPÖ and the Greens vote in favor of a regulation to protect sports and cultural organizers from bankruptcy
Vienna (PK) – At today’s meeting, the Federal Council did not oppose the special law for organizers and thus opened the way for the coupon solution. The Art, Culture and Sports Protection Act passed in the National Council without the votes of SPÖ and FPÖ offers organizers the option of giving coupons instead of refunds.
Critics of freedom criticize the fact that the regulation only applies to large events and tickets are bought well in advance. Furthermore, the financial impact of the crisis would only be postponed for the future, because the failed eV events could not be fully compensated, Thomas Schererbauer (F / O) explains the rejection. Two motions for resolutions tabled in the debate received majority approval. This requires that the vouchers be insured in the event of bankruptcy. In another request, the federal government is asked to come up with a concrete and realistic implementable plan to guarantee the activities of artists and cultural workers.
Despite criticism of parts of the bill, the Social Democrats finally accepted. Michael Wanner (S / S) found the law to be good and correct, even if he viewed it more as the “organizer assistance law”. This measure would have been used before and if the epidemic law had not been repealed, the new law would not have been necessary, Wanner said. In a motion for a resolution, Wanner asked for € 100 million to support sports clubs. Furthermore, from SPÖ’s point of view, school-age children should be able to play sports again as soon as possible and legal conditions should be created to allow sport and exercise in closed rooms again.
Christine Schwarz-Fuchs (V / V) referred to the organizers’ huge liquidity problems, as none or very little revenue would be offset by running costs. Austria’s reputation is based in particular on cultural exports and this also benefits tourism.
The perfect solution does not always exist, but the best always exists, Marco Schreuder (G / W) advocated for the green light on the bill. Other variants of the solution would either send organizers bankruptcy or completely dispense with consumer protection, Schreuder said. The Secretary of State for Culture, Ulrike Lunacek, also referred to the fair distribution of risk in the workforce. It is important that the organizers, like the artists, continue working and can restart the event after the crisis.
The Federal Council also approved a state treaty with which Austria approved the expansion of the aviation agreement between the United States and the European Union. This gives Iceland and Norway the same rights and obligations as the EU Member States. An additional agreement agreed between the three contracting parties sets out rules and procedures that will be necessary due to the accession of Iceland and Norway. The Chamber of States also approved an agreement on the accession of Belarus, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to the agreement on the civil law aspects of the international kidnapping of children and the amendments to the Motor Vehicle Law.
More animal protection in the field of the transport of live animals.
At the end of the meeting, the House of States spoke in favor of greater animal welfare in the field of the transport of live animals in a motion for a resolution by the SPÖ and FPÖ. For example, the Minister of Health should be asked to use all available means at EU level to quickly prohibit the unnecessary transport of live animals from animals that are brought abroad for slaughter. Furthermore, from the Länderkammer’s point of view, a package of measures should be provided to prevent animal suffering caused by the transport of slaughter animals in Austria, including the introduction of minimum penalties for violations of the law, and more controls on the transport of live animals on the road. The basis of the advance was a request from the FPÖ.
Furthermore, on the basis of an FPÖ resolution, the Federal Council urges the government to take a package of measures to mitigate the negative effects of the Corona crisis on the national economy, in particular trade, gastronomy, leisure companies and The tourism. What is required is the immediate provision of € 100 million and subsequently a total of up to € 1 billion in AMS funds, temporary grants for affected SMEs, and government guarantees for bank loans and claims for SMEs and UPRs. In addition, there must be tax exemption or temporary tax exemptions and deferrals, as well as compensation payments to organizers as a result of cancellations. (Federal Council) gun / barrel
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