Susanna Riedlsperger Elected New National President
From 16 to 18 October, we came together in Vienna to network, debate and set the course for the future of JUNOS! ✨📚 From photos of the weekend to the resolutions adopted, you’ll find everything about the 34th National Congress at this link.
Allow us to introduce: the new National Board!
Susanna Riedlsperger was elected as our new National President with 87.31% of the vote, taking over from Sophie Wotschke after four years.
Arman Shariat was elected Secretary General, and Sarah Sinkovits and Kathrin Kaindl were elected Vice Presidents. The other members of the new National Board are Stephen Slager, Elena Hofer, Lorenz Unger, Johannes Putthapong and Marcus Lieder.
Our key resolutions at a glance
Women’s Policy Is Freedom Policy
We see women’s policy as freedom policy and want to remove structural disadvantages without dictating how people should live their lives. To this end, we call for income-related parental leave shared between partners, automatic pension splitting, a legal right to childcare from a child’s first birthday and compulsory financial education. We reject mandatory quotas for women. At the same time, we support removing abortion from the Criminal Code, strengthening women’s health and consistently expanding protection against violence.
Respect, Not Indifference: Greater Public Awareness for Volunteer Emergency Services
We want to better protect volunteer emergency organisations, give them greater recognition and support them in a more targeted way. Violence against emergency workers should be recorded regularly and curbed through legal measures and de-escalation training. We also call for more psychological support after call-outs, measures to tackle the shortage of new recruits and less red tape for volunteers.
Austria and the Chambers of Secrets
We call for the abolition of compulsory membership of the chambers and of their anchoring in the Constitution. Beyond that, the chambers should limit themselves to their core tasks, streamline their structures and significantly lower their fees. We also support direct elections to chamber bodies, full financial transparency, scrutiny by the Court of Audit and the chambers’ withdrawal from professional licensing and approval procedures.
Clipped Wings No More: Abolish the Air Passenger Tax, Open Up Air Travel
We call for the abolition of the air passenger tax to make Austria competitive again as an aviation hub. The lost revenue should be offset by savings rather than new taxes. Austria should also push internationally for the abolition of the cabotage ban, stop subsidising individual routes and advance climate protection in aviation through common European rules such as the EU Emissions Trading System.
The Brave Little Tailor and the Twenty-Seven Customs Houses
We call for a genuine European single market in which even small retailers can ship to other EU countries without disproportionate effort. National special rules on packaging and labelling should be scrapped, and a de minimis rule should apply to small retailers. At the same time, existing law must be consistently enforced against suppliers from non-EU countries, while new parcel taxes should be avoided.
Competition Livens Up Parliament
We want to make it easier for new political forces to enter parliament and so strengthen democratic competition. The electoral threshold for National Council and state parliament elections should be lowered to 3% and abolished at municipal level. We also call for support declarations for standing in elections to be simpler and possible to submit digitally.