Immigrants who have been in Austria for less than five years should have their social benefits reduced, said conservative Integration Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP), amid backlash from her Green coalition partner.
Like Denmark, Raab wants to tie full social welfare benefits to the duration of residency and a specific employment period – an approach intended to be universally applicable, irrespective of nationality and residence status. There is an ongoing review to determine which benefits will be subject to these criteria.
According to Raab, the labour market, not the welfare system, should be the incentive to gain a foothold in Austria. “Currently, we have the wrong form of immigration,” she stated, APA reported.
Raab plans a national coordination office to assist skilled workers considering a move to Austria, helping with family integration, German courses, childcare, and leisure activities. The aim is to expand this service nationwide.
However, the Greens, the ÖVP’s ruling coalition partner, formally rejected her plans.
“For us, cuts to existing social benefits are not up for discussion,” Green MP and integration speaker Faika El-Nagashi told EURACTIV on Wednesday. “The decisive factor is the need for support – not the length of stay in Austria or the extent of employment,” she added.
Criticism also came from the liberal NEOS, as well as from the transport and service union vida.
“Instead of complaining about ‘false immigration’ and continuing to pander to the FPÖ with populist demands for cuts in social benefits, the ÖVP had better get its act together and finally implement overdue reforms on immigration and the labour market,” stressed NEOS Secretary General Douglas Hoyos in a statement.
According to vida chairman Roman Hebenstreit, reducing benefits would not be “an incentive for skilled labour migration desired by the federal government”. Instead, he emphasised the need for appealing jobs offering better wages and favourable working conditions.
(Chiara Swaton | EURACTIV.de)
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