Fatal standstill

Hummer demands: “Back to the negotiating table”

High costs, reduced demand: domestic companies have come under pressure across all sectors.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

It had already been announced, but since Wednesday afternoon it has been confirmed: the government negotiations between the black-blue coalition have collapsed. This is a blow for the domestic economy. Read here what Doris Hummer, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce, and Joachim Haindl-Grutsch, Managing Director of the Federation of Austrian Industries, have to say.

First the end of the talks for a "Zuckerl" coalition, now the collapse of the negotiations between black and blue - while the economy in Austria has come under pressure due to the enormous cost increases and has lost competitiveness, the lack of a government capable of taking action is causing further pinpricks.

"Bad news"
"The renewed collapse of the government negotiations 136 days after the national elections is very bad news for Austria and Upper Austrian industry. All the alarm bells are ringing, while political responsibility is not being taken," says Joachim Haindl-Grutsch, Managing Director of the Federation of Austrian Industries Upper Austria.

"We are on the sidetrack in terms of economic policy," complains Joachim Haindl-Grutsch, Managing Director of the Federation of Austrian Industries Upper Austria.(Bild: IV OÖ/Roland Pelzl)

Haindl-Grutsch continues: "Austria is in the longest recession since 1945 and is losing added value and jobs to foreign countries every day. In terms of economic policy, we are standing on the sidetrack while the global economy continues at high speed. The country urgently needs a government capable of taking action to solve the structural problems."

Our internationally oriented business location now urgently needs a relief package in the areas of energy, bureaucracy and wage costs.

Doris Hummer, Präsidentin der Wirtschaftskammer OÖ

"It is incomprehensible that there is still no viable government in the current difficult economic situation and that new elections and thus a standstill are being provoked purely for party political reasons," says Doris Hummer, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

"Appeal to the constructive and responsible forces"
Hummer is also the chairwoman of the Upper Austrian Economic Association, a sub-organization of the ÖVP. She has a clear message for the federal government: "My appeal to the constructive and responsible forces in the state: back to the negotiating table."