2023-11-14 00:00:14
State Secretary Mayer: Significant budget increases open up scope for cultural institutions and cultural policy
Vienna (PK) – In the debate with the MPs in Budget Committee Regarding developments in the area of art and culture (subdivision 32), State Secretary Andrea Mayer emphasized that the federal budget for 2024 (2178 d.B.) there will once again be a significant budget increase. This is a great negotiation success and shows that the federal government is clearly committed to public support for art and culture, emphasized Mayer. In addition to its societal and social significance, the perception of Austria as a cultural nation also has enormous economic effects. Now, after the Corona pandemic and the new crises and inflation that have emerged in the meantime, it is important to support the art and culture scene, especially the federal cultural institutions, so that they can master the challenges in the best possible way and continue to fulfill their cultural policy mandate.
More funds for both art and culture funding and federal cultural institutions
The draft budget envisages federal payments of around €668.8 million, compared to €620.25 million for 2023. These funds are distributed across two large global budgets: “Art and Culture” and “Cultural Institutions”. The global budget for art and culture is expected to increase by around €34.3 million, from €285.57 million in 2023 to €319.84 million for 2024. A slightly smaller increase can also be seen in the budget resources for financing the large ones Federal cultural institutions that are summarized in the global budget “Cultural Institutions”. There is an increase in projected payments of around €14.3 million, from €334.68 million for 2023 to around €348.96 million for 2024. The increases in art are particularly important here – and cultural funding, funds for monument protection and basic payments for federal theaters and museums.
The global art and culture budget covers three major areas: art and culture funding, monument protection and control and infrastructure. Of the €319.84 million budgeted therein, around €245.4 million is earmarked for the area of art and culture funding alone (2023: €223.76 million). The budget for monument protection is expected to increase to €56.35 million in 2024 (2023: €45.1 million). The detailed budget for control and infrastructure increases from €16.7 million to €18 million due to a valorization of personnel costs.
The budget funds for financing the federal government’s large cultural institutions, which are expected to amount to around €348.96 million in the global budget for “cultural institutions” in 2024, are distributed among the federal museums with €153.86 million (2023: €146.8 million). and the federal theaters, which are to receive around €195.1 million in 2024 (2023: €187.87 million). The majority of the budget funds flow through the basic compensation with which the federal government remunerates cultural institutions for fulfilling their cultural policy tasks, and which was already increased in 2023. The federal museums with the Austrian National Library will receive around €138.55 million in basic compensation in 2024, while around €194.17 million is earmarked for the federal theaters.
Significant increase in the arts and culture budget
With the 2024 budget, more than “just valorization” was achieved in the negotiations with the Finance Minister, said Mayer in the direction of SPÖ MP Harald Troch and MP Agnes Sirkka Prammer (Greens). To compensate for inflation, a significant increase in the arts and culture budget was achieved, which gave cultural institutions and cultural policy important scope. Since 2020, the arts and culture budget has been increased by €202 million or 43%. However, the State Secretary for Culture emphasized that it is also important that the federal cultural organizations continue to leverage synergies and realize savings potential.
According to Mayer, the focus on fair pay and the federal fairness process will continue in 2024. SPÖ culture spokeswoman Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek learned that the 2024 budget again earmarks €9 million as a federal contribution. Mayer also wants to continue working on the art and culture strategy in 2024 in a structured process involving local authorities, interest groups and those working in art and culture, she assured the SPÖ MPs. According to Mayer, a draft of the federal cultural policy guidelines will be presented in November.
As far as film heritage is concerned, the cultural department is in discussions with everyone involved and budget resources have been earmarked for this topic. However, Heinisch-Hosek learned that we are facing a complex challenge here, which is why no rapid progress can be expected. Important attention is also paid to the promotion of young artists and, above all, to the gender-appropriate promotion of artists. The example of the Austrian Film Institute has shown that it is important to motivate women to submit applications in the first place.
Building culture is a central concern of her department, Mayer emphasized to SPÖ MP Ruth Becher, FPÖ MP Thomas Spalt and NEOS MP Johannes Margreiter. The questioners learned that the establishment of an agency for building culture, as had been discussed, will not be set up for the time being due to the complexity of the task. Rather, the department for architecture, building culture and monument protection has been reorganized and will receive four new positions in order to serve “as a hub for building culture,” as Mayer put it.
The State Secretary also pointed out that there was a fundamental agreement by the federal government on an amendment to the protection of monuments and that this should go into review in the next few days. In view of this, more funds are earmarked in the budget to support the preservation of historical objects in order to motivate owners to more fully comply with their preservation obligations.
Ensuring the cultural participation of the broadest possible sections of the population is part of all federal cultural funding, Mayer told MP Katharina Kucharowits (SPÖ). But the fact is that cultural participation in Austria, like education, is strongly inherited. Efforts to change this would undoubtedly have to be increased.
Mayer sees the topic of artificial intelligence, which was also touched on by Kucharowits, primarily as a question of copyright for the art and culture sector. The State Secretary said this was already being discussed at European level and was also in talks with the Minister of Justice.
Mayer did not want to accept criticism from SPÖ MP Harald Troch that “nothing is moving forward” with the collective agreement for the federal museums. She initiated the process because the conclusion of the collective agreement was important to her. But she emphasized that she could only accompany him, not finish it herself. However, she sees significant progress and is aiming to complete the issue during this legislative period.
Regarding the construction projects planned in the area of the federal museums, ÖVP MP Laurenz Pöttinger learned that it was primarily about structural measures in order to be able to better manage the flow of visitors. The entrance areas of several museums would have to be made more attractive and effective. In the federal financial framework for 2025 to 2027, €100 million is earmarked for this. We are well underway with the redesign of the Folklore Museum, whose building is owned by the City of Vienna. Construction should begin here in autumn 2024 and the project should be completed in mid-2026.
For the European Capital of Culture 2024, €10.8 million will be earmarked in next year’s budget, Mayer told ÖVP MP Pöttinger and FPÖ cultural spokesman Thomas Spalt. The federal government will provide a total of €31.6 million for the project. The State Secretary noted that this is an example of how cultural funding also goes to the regions and not just to Vienna.
FPÖ cultural spokesman Spalt, like SPÖ MP Kucharowits, critically noted that the target value for the proportion of children and young people among visitors to the federal theaters had been changed from 8.5% to 7.5%. Mayer explained that this was not a reduction in the target value, but rather a recalculation of the actual current situation. However, she is happy to talk about increasing the target value and also sees the federal theaters as open to this topic. An amendment to the Federal Theater Organization Act is currently not being planned, Spalt learned when asked about this.
After the federal government’s agreement on the House of Austrian History (hdgö), the next steps will be taken very quickly, said the Green Party’s cultural spokesperson, Eva Blimlinger. The architecture competition should start soon. The 2024 budget provides for €1.8 million in planning costs; the new federal financial framework provides a total of €27.7 million for the redesign of the hdgö by 2027, with the entire project expected to require €39 million by 2028. Mayer told NEOS MP Henrike Brandstötter that she did not see the need to spin off the hdgö. The affiliation with the Austrian National Library has proven itself and also allows synergies.
On the topic of sustainability and ecological change in the cultural sector, Mayer referred MP Sibylle Hamann (Greens) to the ambitious “Climate Fit Cultural Enterprises” funding program for ecological investments, which is financed from funds from the EU’s recovery and resilience plan. These funds will also be used to support a digitalization package for cultural heritage.
The funding for “proactive provenance research”, which is intended to deal in particular with federal museums’ holdings of colonial heritage, will be increased to €320,000 in 2024 and thus doubled, NEOS MP Brandstötter learned. The MP learned that there will be no losses regarding the previous art funding contribution from GIS funds, as the previous amount of €12 million has now been included in the regular budget.
Federal financial framework 2024 to 2027
The federal financial framework for 2024 to 2027 was also negotiated (2179 and At 2179 dB). As the federal government’s strategy report on the 2024 budget notes, a significant increase in funds for UG 32 is planned compared to the existing financial framework. Payouts are expected to increase by 15.8%, which corresponds to around €348.2 million. This is primarily intended to cover the inflation-related additional demand in the coming years and the increase in personnel costs. Additional funds are also planned for the ÖFI+ film funding, the House of Austrian History (hdgö) and monument protection in the coming years. The Parliament’s budget service notes that from 2026 onwards, the payment caps will be set lower again because, in addition to savings requirements, the ÖFI+ film funding will no longer apply from this year and construction projects should be completed. (Continuation of the Budget Committee) sox
NOTES: The Parliamentary Budget Service offers economic analyzes of budget policy and templates from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
This provides details on the 2024 budget, the changes to previous years and the development of ongoing budget implementation interactive visualization tool of the budget service. There you will receive a quick and transparent overview of relevant budget data.
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