Tyrolean business group calls for bureaucracy cuts

The Tyrolean Adler Round, a cross-sector group of influential business leaders, has called for existing rules to be reviewed through a “bureaucracy inspection” to determine which are necessary and which can be scrapped, ORF reported. The group made the demand at a press conference in Innsbruck on Tuesday.

The business leaders urged politicians to accelerate reforms. “Digital administration must become reality rather than a buzzword,” said Gottfried Sint, the group’s chairman. He cited Estonia as one example to follow.

New regulations should only be introduced if existing burdens are removed at the same time, according to the “one-in-two-out” principle. The group called for reforms including a higher pension age, tax cuts that reduce the burden on work and performance, and greater school autonomy with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and dual training.

Bureaucracy cuts also debated in Brussels

Austria’s State Secretary Josef Schellhorn launched an anti-bureaucracy initiative in Brussels on Monday. He invited representatives of EU member states to the Austria House for an exchange of best practices on reducing red tape.

The participating alliance later signed a joint declaration. The Chamber of Labour and trade unions said bureaucracy could only be reduced if standards for employee protection, the environment, health and social welfare were not weakened. The Chamber of Labour warned that deregulation could become a Trojan horse for corporate lobby groups.

Business leaders criticise social partnership

Before the tenth Tyrolean Adler Forum on Tuesday evening, Tyrolean business representatives said Austria was seen as an administrative state where responsibilities mattered more than results and processes. They attributed this partly to an unclear division of powers.

“Federalism is fundamentally useful, but it needs clear tax authority,” said Christian Handl, president of the Tyrolean Adler Round.

The group also cited a dense network of interest groups and political veto positions as causes of the problem. Tyrolean business leaders criticised the social partnership system, saying it had once been a model of success but now often acted as an additional veto player. Short election cycles, they added, encouraged politicians to avoid taking action.