A new three-point plan is intended to help relieve the high energy and fuel prices. It includes CO2 pricing, which was originally supposed to start on July 1st. It is now scheduled to start in October. The pricing should make fuel more expensive by around nine cents per liter. The associated compensation measure, the climate bonus, is now to be raised once from 100 to 250 euros, for everyone.
The original plan provided for different payouts here. Depending on where you live, there was between 100 and 200 euros per person, with only the Viennese getting the lowest amount. The argument was that public transport in the capital was well developed. Other big cities like Graz, Innsbruck and Linz fell into the second stage, where all adults should receive 133 euros annually this year.
The third level was previously 167 euros and was intended for many surrounding communities, 200 euros would have been mainly (but not only) in the countryside. According to reports from “Heute” and “Kurier”, the climate bonus will now be increased once to 250 euros, regardless of where you live.
Gas heating is to be sealed
The third measure relates to gas heaters: they are to be phased out. From 2023, no new gas heaters are to be installed in new buildings. By 2040, Austria should completely phase out gas heating.
Both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Environment confirmed to ORF.at that various government-level negotiations on the package are ongoing. You don’t want to anticipate this, so the identical answer. From the department of Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), it was also said that results might be presented “possibly in the coming days”.
Criticism from environmental organization and FPÖ
The environmental organization Greenpeace described the postponement of CO2 pricing as a “climate policy crash landing by the turquoise-green federal government”. There are countless smarter and much more efficient ways to quickly provide relief, said Greenpeace climate and traffic expert Klara Maria Schenk in a broadcast. She cited temporary transfer payments for low-income households, a temporary reduction in tariff rates at the bottom and middle of the income tax bracket, and an increase in the negative tax.
The Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ) criticized the fact that wealthy households would benefit the most from a shift in CO2 pricing. The higher the income, the more diesel and petrol are filled up. The climate bonus, which is fed by the income from CO2 pricing, will in turn benefit households with lower incomes more.
An additional climate bonus graded according to income would therefore be more accurate than postponing CO2 pricing. The VCÖ also called for the social and ecological accuracy of the commuter allowance to be increased.
FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl called for a reduction or – in the event that fuel prices continue to rise – the cancellation of mineral oil tax and a temporary halving or complete cancellation of VAT on staple foods.
