Babler on the Ott case:

Democratic control of secret service necessary

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler in the "ZiB 2" interview on Thursday evening(Bild: ORF)

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler commented on the espionage affair surrounding ex-agent Egisto Ott on "ZiB 2" on Thursday evening. The secret service must be democratically controlled, he said. It would be conceivable, for example, to set up a commission that would have already investigated the terrorist attacks in Vienna.

What is currently happening is a "tragedy." The structures had "completely failed" in this case and now nobody wanted to take responsibility in the espionage affair. In Austria, this is part of the political culture. According to Babler, the SPÖ itself had no contact with Ott. The ÖVP had suggested him as an agent. Overall, the SPÖ leader already sees espionage as a major problem, so there could also be economic and industrial espionage.

Neither plan nor strategy
In terms of industrial policy, Babler accused the government on Thursday of having neither a plan nor a long-term strategy. If Austria were to fail to achieve its climate targets by 2030, it would face fines of 4.7 billion euros. The SPÖ is proposing a climate transformation fund to ensure that the economy is set up differently in a few years' time and produces less CO₂, for example. 20 billion euros, over a period of ten years, would flow into start-ups in the climate and energy transition sector, among others. This would create "sustainable" jobs.

Babler presented his transformation fund on ORF.(Bild: ORF)

ÖBAG to manage fund
The money is to be managed by the state holding company ÖBAG, with an advisory board deciding on the allocation of funds (representatives from industry, the capital market, research, ministries and social partners). This is "economic policy in the interests of taxpayers", who "should not end up being the losers". According to the party, the money for the fund could come from public sector dividend income, for example from Asfinag, Verbund and ÖBAG shareholdings.

At present, it is not clear whether subsidies are actually being used sensibly. Babler cited the fact that the expansion of green electricity production was decided first and the associated grid expansion was only taken care of later as an example of a lack of sense. Babler repeated several times in the interview that the fund would strengthen both climate policy and the business location.