Austria may face disciplinary measures from the European Commission due to excessive budgetary spending projected for 2024–2026.
Reportedly, Austria risks being subjected to a special EU mechanism designed for countries whose expenditures exceed the permissible limits. Vienna now has until January 21 to present the European Commission with a convincing plan to reduce spending. In November, the EC had already postponed the process, granting Austria additional time to address the issue.
At the same time, Austria’s chances of meeting this deadline depend on coalition negotiations, which have just restarted—this time with the goal of forming a government led by righ-wing leader Herbert Kickl.
If Austria fails to meet the deadline, it will not submit the required document on time and will find itself in the same situation as France and Italy, both of which also face high public debt levels.
Unofficially, it is reported that the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) are rushing to finalize a plan by early next week. One of the reasons for the collapse of previous government talks between the Austrian People’s Party and the Social Democrats was sharp disagreements over how to balance the budget.
