Austria’s recovery and resilience plan

RRF FUNDED PROJECTS IN AUSTRIA

WHAT’S IN THE PLAN?

The reforms and investments in Austria’s plan, approved by the Council on 13 July 2021, are helping it become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities offered by the green and digital transition. Following Council approval of Austria’s plan on 13 July 2021, Austria’s recovery and resilience plan was updated on 9 November 2023 also to introduce a REPowerEU chapter.

^{*This value includes the part of the plan which is financed with national resources.}

• 34 investment streams and 29 reforms
• 56% of the plan will support climate objectives 
• 36% of the plan will foster the digital transition.

The transformative impact of Austria’s plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investment which address the country’s specific challenges. The reforms and investments address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth. In particular, Austria’s plan will reform the tax system to make it greener and more social, increase digitalisation, protect the climate through zero-emission mobility, renovation and energy-efficiency measures, and improve education and training across the country.

All measures have to be implemented within a tight time frame, as the Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility requires all milestones and targets within the national plans to be completed by August 2026.

Austria’s plan now includes two reforms and two investments to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, in line with one of the REPowerEU Plan's objectives.

Austria’s REPowerEU grant allocation amounts to € 210 million.  

Key measures for REPowerEU  

The REPowerEU chapter focuses on accelerating renewable energy and decarbonising transport. It contains two new reforms. The first reform aims at streamlining permitting procedures for renewable energy projects, in particular wind farms. This will help Austria reach its ambitious 2030 targets for the deployment of renewable energy. The second reform concerns the adoption and implementation of a national Hydrogen Strategy setting a clear focus on promoting renewable hydrogen. This should allow Austria to ramp up its production of renewable hydrogen and develop hydrogen-ready infrastructure.     

It also includes two investments - a new subsidy scheme for citizens and non-profit organisations to install solar panels on buildings and a scheme supporting the purchase of heavy-duty zero-emission commercial vehicles and the construction of recharging infrastructure. This will help Austria to accelerate the deployment of solar energy and reduce emissions from transport which make up around 28% of national GHG emissions.    

In the area of climate and environmental policies, Austria’s challenges include the need to improve the pricing of greenhouse gas emissions, reduce transport-related emissions and making the building sector more energy-efficient, all while taking account of regional economic implications and cohesion.

Key measures for the green transition

• The plan supports the green transition through:
  • investments of €843 million in sustainable mobility with zero-emission transport.
  • €543 million to expand the electrified trans-European rail network, including linking it to regional lines.
• Companies’ investment in low-emission buildings and vehicles (€504 million) will be supported, as will the phase-out of oil and gas heating in private homes (€159 million).
• Investments include a €50 million biodiversity fund and the recycling of beverage containers (€300 million).
• These will be complemented by crucial reforms, such as the eco-social tax reform, the renewables expansion act to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and the climate ticket for increased use of public transport via a flat rate season ticket, as well as introducing a soil protection strategy.

The modified plan, including the REPowerEU chapter, has a strong focus on  the green transition, devoting 56 % of the available funds to measures that support climate objectives.

Digital challenges for Austria include the need to improve the population’s basic digital skills and more specialised software skills, through equal access to education and upskilling and reskilling measures. Increasing the adoption of digital technologies by smaller companies and widening very high-speed broadband coverage and take-up are also essential.

Key measures for the digital transition

• Austria’s recovery and resilience plan supports the digital transition with investments in Gigabit networks reaching half of Austrian households (€891 million) and the digitalisation of more than 15,000 SMEs and 7,000 larger companies (€101 million).
• Important investments include support to a digital, service-oriented public administration (€160 million) and providing computers for all secondary pupils (€172 million).
• Flanking reforms are included to set up an Internet Infrastructure Austria 2030 Platform to simplify procedures for broadband deployment and facilitating equal access of secondary pupils to obtain basic digital skills.

Key challenges for the Austrian economy include the need to make the tax mix more efficient and more supportive to inclusive and sustainable growth, improve the long-term sustainability of public finances, simplify and rationalise the fiscal framework, boost labour market outcomes for the low-skilled, support full-time employment among women, reduce the administrative burden for businesses, and improve R&D innovation outcomes.

Key measures in reinforcing economic and social resilience

• The plan reinforces economic and social resilience with investments and reforms in the crucial areas of education and skills, healthcare, business environment, and research and innovation.
• It includes several measures in the context of the pension system (e.g. reducing incentives for early retirement and decreasing the gender pension gap) and a one-stop shop increased support for the long-term unemployed.
• Austria plans to improve the business environment for start-ups and provide up - and reskilling opportunities for people who have become unemployed during the crisis (€277 million).
• The plan includes investments to increase places in high-quality early childhood care facilities (€28 million) and to improve primary healthcare (€100 million) and long-term care (€54 million).
• It will also spend €250 million on future-oriented technologies, through projects of common European interest in microelectronics and hydrogen production.

Annual events facilitate the exchange of views on the state of implementation of the Recovery and resilience plans, while ensuring close cooperation between all stakeholders and providing a platform to discuss interlinks between the Plans and other Union programmes. 

More information on Annual events held in Austria can be found here

Austria’s plan is consistent with the challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle of coordination and monitoring of each EU country’s economic policies. For a detailed explanation of the European Semester see the following link: The European Semester explained | European Commission (europa.eu)

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