The government is again considering whether to postpone the start date for implementing the carbon tax until October, due to high energy prices and growing criticism.
The carbon tax is an eco-social prestige project of the current conservative-green government, where emitting a ton of carbon should cost €30 from 1 July.
“The chancellor has the responsibility to ensure that in the midst of this serious crisis – as in Germany – the Austrian population is relieved from the burden. But, unfortunately, the opposite is the case,” Hans Peter Doskozil, governor of Burgenland from the Social Democrats, told the daily Heute on Wednesday (1 June).
According to Doskzil, the carbon tax would come “at the wrong time”.
For consumers, the tax would impact heating and fuel costs. To compensate for the additional burden, a regional climate bonus should be introduced along with the carbon price.
However, this climate bonus will not be paid out until October, although it should have been distributed before the carbon taxes.
Business and industry have been campaigning for months for a delay, and Upper Austria’s conservative governor Thomas Stelzer also supported these calls, given the rise in energy prices.
The right-wing Freedom Party also pleaded on Thursday (2 June) to stop the introduction, saying the tax would only exacerbate rising inflation.
With the tax, Austria is taking its cue from Germany, where a price on CO2 emissions was introduced at the start of 2021 to ensure the fines are collected from the use of climate-damaging fossil fuels.
The money collected then flows into the Energy and Climate Fund to promote the energy transition. The tax is passed on to consumers by the companies concerned. This is intended as an incentive to switch to more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Like in Germany, the carbon price in Austria is to be raised annually and will gradually increase to €55 per ton by 2025.
However, it is uncertain when Austria will introduce such a tax as little time is left for the package to be passed before summer, and the National Council’s next plenary session is set to take place on 14 June.
Source: euractiv.com
