The National Council ends a long disputed chapter of Austrian housing policy on Wednesday. In future, tenants will only have to pay brokerage fees if they hire a broker themselves. An EIA amendment that is also available on Wednesday should result in an acceleration of the environmental impact assessment. Accommodation providers of refugees receive a cost-of-living allowance.
The plenary day begins with two “Current Hours”. The topic of those on domestic political matters this time is the NEOS, who are debating incentives for full-time work. At the “Current Europe Hour” on the initiative of the Greens, “green energy and technology for a modern industrial location” will be discussed.
The legislative decisions that are pending are not all that spectacular this time. After all, with the brokerage fee, an eternal topic in the rental history is shelved. In the future, the orderer principle will apply. This means that only those who commission a broker have to pay for them. The amount of the benefit is currently up to two months’ rent.
It has also long been discussed why environmental impact assessments take so long. The amendment, which was worked out at the most recent government meeting and can count on the approval of all parties except the FPÖ, is intended to speed up the procedures for large energy transition projects such as wind farms. The aim is to support implementation with better criteria as to whether an EIA procedure is necessary for a project. For example, new facts are introduced for large parking lot projects, for large-scale resealing, construction projects within UNESCO World Heritage sites or for the storage of waste.
An amendment to the Medical Devices Act comes from a completely different subject area. If official information about health hazards from implants is available, those affected must be informed “demonstrably” and “without unnecessary delay” by the treating physicians or the hospitals.
Over the course of the year, inflation has become a problem for many accommodation providers for refugees. You should now be granted some compensation. According to this, those affected can retrospectively expect a monthly allowance of up to 50 euros for the months of October up to and including March, and 100 euros for families. From a formal point of view, corresponding amounts are made available to the federal states, which they are then supposed to pass on.
The Mental Health referendum, which last year dealt with the mental health of young people and secured parliamentary treatment with a good 138,000 signatories, is also dealt with. The hurdle for this is 100,000 signatures.