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BackLast week, the EU Commission adopted the so-called “country-specific recommendations”. They are based on an in-depth analysis of the situation in each country and contain recommendations as to how these countries might increase their growth potential and competitiveness and create jobs in the 2013-2014 period. Austria too was provided with recommendations; interestingly enough, they were almost the same as those she was given last year. Whether this has to be seen as a positive or negative sign will only become apparent when Austria gives her official reaction. The ball is now in the corner of the heads of state and government, who will probably accept the recommendations before the end of this month in order to implement them in their budget planning and policies.
EU Commission: Austria shall link statutory retirement age to life expectancy
The country-specific recommendations for Austria state that the projected medium and long-term expenditure for pensions and healthcare represent a risk for the sustainability of public finances. The EU Commission also believes that the recent reforms in respect of pension schemes will reduce some of the risks regarding the sustainability of the system. It therefore suggests as a solution that Austria should undertake an accelerated harmonisation of the retirement age of women and men and link the statutory retirement age to increased life expectancy. The same recommendations were given to Austria in 2012. Austria’s then reply had been very comprehensive, as she had detailed all measures, which had already been initiated - obviously with little success. The recommendations in respect of retirement almost sound as if Austria had been idle. However, the reaction of the responsible Social Affairs Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer was clear: Austria has launched many reforms and therefore does see no reason to increase the statutory retirement age for example. Sometimes, it would be appreciated if the EU Commission would involve the Member States more into its decision-making process and not just make demands, which do not contribute anything to solving the problem. Only recently, the European Parliament also clearly rejected increasing and linking the statutory retirement age to life expectancy. It will be interesting to see how the heads of state and government will react as the final decision concerning the recommendations of the EU Commission lies with them.
Improving the share of women in employment – Childcare a key to success!
However, the country-specific recommendations also address the issue that Austria still has a lot of catching up to do with regard to improving the share of women in employment. The share of women in part-time employment is among the highest in the EU and the availability of childcare facilities and long-term care services is limited. Apart from that, women are found almost twice as often in marginal employment than men and are highly concentrated in low-wage employment. Hence, the EU Commission recommends that Austria takes in particular measures that will improve childcare services – a longstanding and often repeated demand of the Chamber of Labour. Also interesting is the fact that the EU Commission urges Austria to lower the effective tax and social security burden on labour for low-income earners by shifting these to other sources of taxation, which are less detrimental to growth, such as recurrent property taxes.
Further information:
Country-specific recommendations for Austria
Press release of the EU Commission on country-specific recommendations
The country-specific recommendations for Austria state that the projected medium and long-term expenditure for pensions and healthcare represent a risk for the sustainability of public finances. The EU Commission also believes that the recent reforms in respect of pension schemes will reduce some of the risks regarding the sustainability of the system. It therefore suggests as a solution that Austria should undertake an accelerated harmonisation of the retirement age of women and men and link the statutory retirement age to increased life expectancy. The same recommendations were given to Austria in 2012. Austria’s then reply had been very comprehensive, as she had detailed all measures, which had already been initiated - obviously with little success. The recommendations in respect of retirement almost sound as if Austria had been idle. However, the reaction of the responsible Social Affairs Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer was clear: Austria has launched many reforms and therefore does see no reason to increase the statutory retirement age for example. Sometimes, it would be appreciated if the EU Commission would involve the Member States more into its decision-making process and not just make demands, which do not contribute anything to solving the problem. Only recently, the European Parliament also clearly rejected increasing and linking the statutory retirement age to life expectancy. It will be interesting to see how the heads of state and government will react as the final decision concerning the recommendations of the EU Commission lies with them.
Improving the share of women in employment – Childcare a key to success!
However, the country-specific recommendations also address the issue that Austria still has a lot of catching up to do with regard to improving the share of women in employment. The share of women in part-time employment is among the highest in the EU and the availability of childcare facilities and long-term care services is limited. Apart from that, women are found almost twice as often in marginal employment than men and are highly concentrated in low-wage employment. Hence, the EU Commission recommends that Austria takes in particular measures that will improve childcare services – a longstanding and often repeated demand of the Chamber of Labour. Also interesting is the fact that the EU Commission urges Austria to lower the effective tax and social security burden on labour for low-income earners by shifting these to other sources of taxation, which are less detrimental to growth, such as recurrent property taxes.
Further information:
Country-specific recommendations for Austria
Press release of the EU Commission on country-specific recommendations