The Social Committee also dealt with the topic of pensions, the situation of people with disabilities and current EU projects
Vienna (PK) – The Social Committee of the National Council also launched an amendment to the ASVG today. It aims to make it easier to provide a photo for the e-card. For this purpose, mayors should also be explicitly designated by law as a suitable authority for photo registration, which includes both Austrian and non-Austrian citizens. The provision should generally apply from April 1st, the prerequisite for this is a corresponding regulation from Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. The decision in the committee was made with the votes of the ÖVP, the Greens and NEOS, and the FPÖ in particular was skeptical.
In addition, the Social Committee today also dealt with opposition motions on the subject of pensions and the situation of people with disabilities, all of which were put on hold. A report from Social and Health Minister Johannes Rauch on current EU projects in his area of responsibility was also on the agenda.
Photo registration for the e-card
E-cards are generally automatically equipped with a photo if the local passport or driving license authorities have a photo or you have electronic proof of identity. Otherwise, a photo must be provided; Austrians must contact the social security offices and foreign citizens must contact the state police departments. The social insurance providers can also now use appropriate contracts from the mayors and the passport authorities. Now the ÖVP and the Greens want to adapt the relevant provisions and make photo registration easier, especially for non-Austrian citizens (3866/A). This is also intended to avoid the threat of blocking existing e-cards without a photo.
Rebecca Kirchbaumer (ÖVP) assumes that the amendment to the law will save a lot of time for foreign employees. Anyone who works in Tyrolean valleys is currently traveling up to four hours to have a photo registered for the e-card, she pointed out. However, the new service will not be mandatory for the municipalities; according to Kirchbaumer, it will be up to the mayors whether they want to act as a photo registration office.
On behalf of the Green Party, Ralph Schallmeiner spoke out in favor of making submitting the photo as easy as possible. It is particularly about 24-hour carers and seasonal workers in tourism and agriculture, he emphasized. It makes sense to shorten these people’s journeys. The NEOS also voted for the amendment to the law: Gerald Loacker noted that his group had always suspected that the costs of equipping e-cards with a photo were higher than the savings from avoiding any misuse.
Sharp criticism from the FPÖ
However, the amendment to the law was sharply criticized by the FPÖ. The Austrian health system is already overloaded with people who do not pay anything into the system or who abuse it, said Peter Wurm. In this sense, he and his party colleague Dagmar Belakowitsch consider it important to include a photo on the e-card. This measure should not be weakened, they warned. Instead of stricter controls, “the floodgates are now being opened,” said Wurm. Belakowitsch also considers longer travel times to be reasonable for those affected.
SPÖ MP Alois Stöger warned of an additional burden on communities. The SPÖ would have made it easier, he said: they could have simply allowed e-cards without photos to be used.
According to Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch, photo registration costs €10, which the insured have to pay themselves. He also reiterated ÖVP MP Kirchbaumer’s statement that the communities’ participation was voluntary. In the direction of NEOS, Rauch explained that he had no evidence of what the introduction of the photo on the e-card had achieved.
Pensions: SPÖ insists on abolishing the aliquot rule
The Social Committee postponed four motions on the subject of pensions, two each of which had been submitted by the SPÖ and the FPÖ. The SPÖ is still insisting on finally abolishing the aliquoting of the first pension adjustment and thus also granting full inflation compensation to pensioners who only started their pension shortly before the turn of the year (3146/A). The aliquoting rule is currently temporarily suspended due to high inflation, but will be effective again for retirement from 2025. In addition, the SPÖ is concerned with securing the current pension system – for example through a personnel offensive in the areas of health, child education and care as well as by raising the actual retirement age (3724/AE)). In principle, the system is fit for the future, emphasized MP Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek in the committee.
Both Green Party social spokesman Markus Koza and ÖVP MP Bettina Zopf pointed out that the Constitutional Court (VfGH) had deemed the aliquoting of the first pension increase to be constitutional. In addition, an aliquoting rule is still better for those affected than a one-year waiting period for the first pension increase, as existed before – even under black-red governments, Koza noted. Especially since the aliquoting regulation was suspended anyway due to high inflation in order to avoid particular hardship. When it comes to the demand for an increase in the actual retirement age, Koza also considers the SPÖ to be “not very credible” because it constantly proposes measures that would enable employees to retire earlier.
SPÖ social spokesman Josef Muchitsch countered Koza by saying that the aliquotation regulation favors earlier retirement, since the earlier you retire in the calendar year, the higher the first pension adjustment will be. In his opinion, it also needs to be clarified by the summer as to whether the aliquoting regulation will also be suspended next year so that those affected can adjust to it.
Gerald Loacker (NEOS) spoke out in favor of a return to the “bowl model” – i.e. the reintroduction of the one-year waiting period. He is convinced that this was the “right” model.
FPÖ demands report on special pensions
The FPÖ has used the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Special Pension Limitation Act to demand a report from Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch on the effect of the law (3807/A(E)). This should also include those areas in which special pensions have now been switched to pension fund models. The FPÖ is also pushing for the reintroduction of a minimum interest guarantee and tax relief for private and company pensions in order to avoid impending pension cuts (3184/A(E)).
Dagmar Belakowitsch (FPÖ) complained that in the course of the adoption of the special pension limitation law there were only “mini cuts” in luxury pensions. She therefore called on the government parties to use the time until the elections “to do something.” It cannot be the case that “the great majority of the population” has to “eke out an existence” with minimum pensions or pensions just above it, while on the other hand there are still extremely high special pensions. The FPÖ will address this again in the coming election campaign, announced her party colleague Peter Wurm, who suspects “damage” from luxury pensions of up to one billion euros per year.
NEOS MP Gerald Loacker pointed out that recipients of special pensions would have to accept successively smaller pension cuts due to the constant increase in the ASVG maximum pension. We need to take a closer look at this, he said, and in this sense he supported the FPÖ’s demand for data to be made available. In his opinion, however, private and company pensions are “no business” of taxpayers, especially since, according to him, the inter-company pension funds ended 2023 with a significant increase and are also a good investment in the long term.
Green social spokesman Markus Koza sees it similarly. He emphasized that it is not the responsibility of the public sector to cushion pension losses from private pension provision.
Social security for employees in workshops for the disabled
On the basis of a motion for a resolution by the FPÖ (381/A(E)), the MPs again discussed the long-standing demand to pay employees in workshops for the disabled and other integrative institutions wages instead of pocket money and thus to provide those affected with better social security. In addition, the NEOS are calling for a binding step-by-step plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Austria (3680/A(E)). It is necessary to turn the recommendations of the UN expert committee into law, emphasized NEOS MP Fiona Fiedler in the committee. Specifically, it is concerned with improving support services to enable people with disabilities to live a self-determined life, the enforceability of rights in court, effective measures to eliminate poverty and barrier-free access to voting and electoral processes.
FPÖ MP Christian Ragger and SPÖ MP Verena Nussbaum also see the government as failing to implement the National Disability Action Plan. Apparently this topic is not a priority, Nussbaum regretted. According to Ragger, initial approaches to financial equalization could have been regulated. “We’ve been running like a hamster on a wheel for four years,” he criticized. According to him, if there is no agreement with the states, one should consider “transferring” individual states’ competencies to the federal government. For example, Ragger is critical of the fact that personal assistance is regulated very differently in different countries.
Rauch: Pilot projects should start before the summer
On behalf of the ÖVP, Kira Grünberg referred to planned pilot projects in the area of “wages instead of pocket money”. According to Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch, the first corresponding projects should start before the summer. The aim is to get people with disabilities “out of the institutions” and to place them in the labor market or institutions close to the labor market. In other areas he has no influence, said Rauch, so the federal states are “far from saying goodbye” to special schools.
EU projects in the areas of social affairs, health and consumer protection
With the votes of ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS, the MPs took note of a report by Social and Health Minister Johannes Rauch on current EU projects in his area of responsibility (III-1107 dB). Rauch emphasized in the committee that the EU is not only an economic but also a social union. He expressly welcomes the EU Commission’s plans to strengthen this. The priority topic is the fight against poverty, especially the prevention of child poverty.
In the social sector, negotiations are currently underway, among other things, about the introduction of a European disability card and a European parking card for people with disabilities, as well as the cross-border granting of unemployment benefits, family allowances and care benefits, Rauch continued. A pilot project is still underway with regard to the planned introduction of a European social security card (ESSPASS). There are also some initiatives at EU level in the area of consumer protection.
The EU also wants to implement some projects in the health sector, with the overall focus being on the lessons learned from the corona pandemic and strengthening the resilience of the entire system. The EU is also working on an international pandemic agreement in order to be better prepared for health crises in the future. Rauch named the EU’s current legislative proposals as, among other things, a legislative package to improve the supply of medicines to the European population. It is also about better framework conditions for research and development, explained Rauch. According to Rauch, the stricter rules for animal transport are the most comprehensive project in this area in several years. Austria will not support the EU Commission’s plans to facilitate the cultivation of plants bred using new genomic methods such as the CRISPR/Cas genetic scissors in their current form due to its fundamental stance on genetic engineering issues, the minister informed MPs.
Right to repair
In the debate on the report, Christian Drobits (SPÖ) pointed out areas of consumer protection that, in his view, need solutions at EU level, such as the right to repair. There are also problems with the safety of children’s toys. Many piracy products in this area in particular have a high level of pollutants. From the point of view of FPÖ MP Peter Wurm, there is no progress in the EU, but rather a regression in the rights of consumers. Many people would be left behind by a “force to digitize” when it comes to enforcing their rights, he warned. Care must therefore be taken to also provide a corresponding analogue offer.
Social Affairs Minister Rauch pointed out that the EU is planning to extend the right to repair up to two years after the warranty has expired. In order to avoid dangerous substances in children’s toys, there are plans for greater monitoring of production.
MEPs raised several questions about the EU’s plans to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities. Here Verena Nussbaum (SPÖ) and Fiona Fiedler (NEOS) saw Austria as failing to implement its national obligations.
Rauch emphasized that his department is working on implementing the requirements of the National Disability Action Plan and is also involved in the implementation of the disability rights strategy at EU level, for example when it comes to barrier-free mobility.
Better drug supply in Europe
In addition to Nussbaum (SPÖ) and Fiedler (NEOS), Josef Smolle (ÖVP) was also interested in the topic of drug supply. Smolle said it would make sense for Europe to reduce its dependence on imports of certain active ingredients and expand European research and production. However, there is a certain tension between the interests of research and development and those of consumers, which need to be balanced.
Health Minister Rauch stated that the plans in the area of pharmaceuticals were aimed at strengthening production in Europe. The fact is that the prices for mass-produced drugs are now so low that they are no longer interesting for companies, while the prices for drugs for rare diseases are exploding. Here the EU is trying to create incentives for pharmaceutical companies to offer affordable products through a staggered model of patent protection. However, he does not expect that the current EU Commission will complete this project, but it will remain an EU priority.
There were also questions from MPs about the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Markus Koza (Greens) asked about the status of negotiations on the planned regulation on the exchange of health data. Christian Drobits (SPÖ) and Fiona Fiedler (NEOS) saw open questions of data security in this context.
Federal Minister Rauch informed the MPs that Austria insists on an opt-out option for citizens when exchanging health data, as it also exists for the electronic health record ELGA. From his point of view, this makes sense because this option increases acceptance of the system. In principle, however, it makes sense to have access to large data sets of primary health data, especially with regard to AI-supported diagnoses, which have great advantages. However, solutions are needed for the area of secondary health data, which is collected through fitness apps, for example, as misuse cannot be ruled out here. (Conclusion of the Social Committee) gs/sox
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