More Europe is needed when it comes to the internal market, for example, and less when it comes to “small things” like the issue of wolves, said top candidate Reinhold Lopatka when presenting the program and posters at the ÖVP Political Academy on Monday. In the election campaign, the People’s Party wants to clearly differentiate itself from the FPÖ, which Lopatka sharply criticized as an opponent of the EU.
A poster shows Lopatka next to the words “Europe. But better.” On the remaining ones, voters should be motivated to vote for the ÖVP on June 9th with slogans such as “Protect Europe’s borders” and “Improve Europe instead of destroying it” – in black letters on a white background. “The Austrian People’s Party is the European party,” said General Secretary Christian Stocker, adding that it represents a “constructive centrist policy.” The election program was created in a “broad participatory process,” and Lopatka “toured through Austria for weeks.”
“Underdevelopment” in migration
Lopatka sees illegal migration as an “adverse development” that needs to be corrected. Fences and border surveillance measures are to be created using extensive funds for external border protection. Asylum procedures should take place in safe third countries, and the ÖVP also wants to deport people there – especially when people with a negative asylum decision cannot be returned to their home countries – even if they have no connection to the third country. The procedures in third countries must meet “all legal criteria,” emphasized Lopatka, who would like to see agreements with third countries at EU level. The People’s Party also wants stricter rules for family reunification.
“Green Deal sequel with common sense”
With the “Green Deal,” Lopatka wants a “common sense continuation” that takes the interests of industry and business locations into account. The ÖVP wants to reverse the ban on new registrations of internal combustion engines from 2035, which for Lopatka is a “dictation of politics”. According to the program, they even want to actively work to ensure that Europe’s car industry becomes the world market leader in combustion engines. “Let’s leave it to the automobile manufacturers,” said the top candidate, as they would also be researching e-fuels. But he wants to stick to the EU’s climate goals. The ÖVP also wants to continue efforts towards technologies that absorb and store CO2 from the air.
Less bureaucracy in agriculture
Not every problem is also one of the EU, Lopatka called “petty things” such as the issue of wolves, whose protection status the ÖVP wants to lower. When it comes to agriculture, the ÖVP wants less bureaucracy. Additional charges for telephone calls within the EU are to be abolished. “More Europe” is needed in the internal market, Lopatka emphasized the importance of Austria’s exports to the euro area. He advocated shifting traffic to rail and standardizing the railways’ power system. Lopatka also wants to increasingly promote research and innovation – the “most important raw material in the EU”. Energy suppliers should be diversified and an energy infrastructure strategy should be created at European level.
Austria in the role of mediator
The program also states that Austria should continue to play a mediating role in Europe and the world. The ÖVP wants to work for a “just and sustainable peace” in Ukraine; there should not be an accelerated process as a candidate for EU membership. However, the People’s Party would like to see more speed in the EU accession negotiations in the Western Balkans. The Eurozone should also be expanded and the Euro strengthened.
The ÖVP wants to differentiate itself from the FPÖ with its program and posters. The election will decide whether the EU can develop further or whether those who see the project as a failure and are looking for a way back to the nation states gain influence, said Lopatka. “A vote for the Freedom Party is a lost vote for Austria, but also for Europe.”
