MNI INTERVIEW2: Austria In Good Position To Avoid EDP - Kocher
MNI (VIENNA) - Austria is in a “good position” to avoid triggering an Excessive Deficit Procedure under European Union rules, Labour and Economy minister Martin Kocher told MNI ahead of a meeting of EU member states’ finance ministers.
With the European Commission set to decide whether to maintain its recommendation to open an EDP against Austria, ahead of an ECOFIN meeting on Jan 21, matters have been complicated by the failure of Vienna’s main political parties to form a government following September elections, with Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl last week tasked with leading fresh coalition building attempts.
While Kocher - who was named to the government by the conservative People’s Party - said he did not expect a power-sharing deal to be in place by then, he was confident Austria will avoid the procedure.
“There is a clear commitment to reducing the deficit regardless of the parties involved,” he said. “All of them know that there is a need to reduce the deficit.”
PATH TOWARDS TARGETS
On Monday Austria’s Finance Minister Gunter Mayr presented European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis with proposals to bring the country’s budget deficit - which reached 3.7% of GDP last year - below 3% next year.
“Austria is still in a good position, but clearly there has to be a path towards reaching the European deficit targets again. I'm confident this will happen, because there is within the budget a certain flexibility to reduce expenses while not increasing taxes,” Kocher said.
Austria will also remain committed to core European values under a government led by the Freedom Party, said Kocher, who takes over from Robert Holzman as Austrian National Bank governor on Sept 1 and is not involved in coalition negotiations. (See MNI INTERVIEW: ECB Looks At "Restrictive" Language - Holzmann)
“What is clear is that Austria will remain a stable and constructive partner within the European Union. Regardless of the composition of the government, Austria will remain a liberal, stable democracy with all civil liberties, a free press, free speech and rule of law, to mention a few aspects. These are obviously non-negotiable.