Image: (APA/EVA MANHART)
Austria’s Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) described the 600 million euros that are to flow into domestic companies and funding organizations by 2026 as “Austria’s answer to the US Inflation Reduction Act”. By the end of the decade, the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Climate will make a total of 5.7 billion euros available, the minister said on Tuesday.
This climate and transformation offensive is about getting away from fossil fuels and reducing dependence on Russian gas.
The implementation of the transformation funding runs on three tracks: The programs, which are handled by the funding agencies FFG and aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH), stand “for all promising technologies and for all organizational sizes”, for example alternative drive systems and more efficient batteries. The “openness to technology”, which is often neglected in industry, was emphasized several times. By 2026, 300 million euros will be available in this way.
The second funding track is qualification measures for employees. In the next few years, 50 million euros would be available for this, ten million euros of it this year. It will be possible to apply for so-called Skills Checks from next week.
The third funding track is not yet getting off the ground: location and investment funding. The European framework for state aid is currently being revised. Industry and the Chamber of Commerce welcomed the offensive, in particular because funding priorities would be set in cars and in the semiconductor industry.
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