Collini urges Lower Austria to tackle business location problems

NEOS state leader Indra Collini has called on Lower Austria’s government to adopt a concrete economic plan, saying the planned closure of the Ardo factory shows the state has a structural business-location problem, ORF reported Wednesday.

Collini said the closure was not an isolated case and urged the government to approve measures for businesses and jobs at its working retreat on Thursday. Expressions of sympathy over the planned closure of the factory in Groß-Enzersdorf, in the Gänserndorf district, were not enough, she said. Companies needed lower costs, faster procedures and less bureaucracy.

Collini set out six proposals: the state should press the federal government to reduce non-wage labour costs; the Chamber of Commerce’s levy 2 should be abolished; and bureaucracy should be cut, with two existing rules removed for every new one introduced. She also said public authorities should act more like service providers, with their service quality, efficiency and public satisfaction measured and improved.

She called for millions of euros the state receives in EVN dividends to be earmarked for expanding renewable energy. Collini also demanded a clear commitment to the European single market, saying protectionism could threaten orders and jobs in export-oriented Lower Austria. Her proposals are not new, she said, but recent company failures and current unemployment figures made action urgent. Each month without reforms would cost the state competitiveness and jobs.