Coalition agrees to freeze party funding for 2027 and 2028

Background: years of indexation practice

Federal Chancellor Stocker justified the move with general austerity efforts. "Die Parteien-, Klub- und Akademienförderungen werden in den kommenden beiden Jahren nicht erhöht. In Zeiten, in denen alle einen Beitrag leisten müssen, tragen auch die Parteien zur Budgetkonsolidierung bei," the statement from the Federal Chancellery reads. In addition to party funding, the club funding – which is tied to the civil service salary agreement – as well as funding for party academies will also be frozen.

In international comparison, Austria belongs to those countries with the highest party financing systems, significantly above the European average. In the budget path, a savings contribution of five million euros is planned under the title "Savings in Politics," without any source for the funds being specified. Funding for the party academies amounts to twelve million euros, with no automatic indexation provided for.

At the federal level alone, the parliamentary parties will receive around 38 million euros in federal party funding this year (2026). The largest share goes to the FPÖ with 22.3 million euros, followed by the ÖVP with 20.9 million euros and the SPÖ with 17.7 million euros. The NEOS receive 9.7 million, the Greens 9.2 million euros. Added to this are the club and academy funding, so that total federal party financing in 2026 amounts to just under 80 million euros.

Distribution of federal funding 2026

Federal party funding accounts for only one third of total party financing in Austria, since the system exists nine times: once at the federal level and once per federal state. State organizations of the parliamentary parties record annual revenues of more than 150 million euros according to an analysis of accountability reports by DER STANDARD, the bulk of which comes from public funds. In federal states such as Lower Austria, party-affiliated municipal associations are additionally funded with millions.

In addition, there are party-affiliated subsidies from the Economic Chamber. The Economic Chamber pays its own subsidies to the factions represented in its "parliament," with the ÖVP Wirtschaftsbund, which has the most members, receiving 15 million euros per year from the mandatory membership contributions of businesses.

Financial situation of the parties and salary issues

The inflation adjustments for party funding are to be considered separately from those for the salaries of National Council members, government members, and state governors. According to KURIER information, there will be no salary rounds for politicians in 2027 and 2028. Political scientist Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik from the University of Vienna assessed this in KURIER with the words: "Welche andere Berufsgruppe ist bereit, so lange auf so viel Reallohn zu verzichten?" Ennser-Jedenastik pointed out that salaries had been raised so rarely "dass in 30 Jahren ein Wertverlust von fast 40 Prozent eingetreten ist".

The financial situation of the parties varies. After the intensive election year 2024, the ÖVP had seen its debts rise to around 9.3 million euros. At the end of 2023, the ÖVP reported a negative net worth of around 5.6 million euros according to its accountability report. The SPÖ was able to reduce its debt level to just under two million euros in 2024. The NEOS most recently reported breaking even.

Outlook on the budget speech

The FPÖ and the Greens had viewed the planned increases critically from the start. The NEOS-led resistance against the indexation automatic ultimately prevailed: Instead of an annual adjustment to inflation, the funding will be frozen for two years, which marks a departure from the previous practice of always indexing party funding. The agreement was reached in the run-up to Marterbauer's hotly anticipated budget speech in parliament on Wednesday.

This ends a weeks-long domestic political dispute over the question of who should make which contribution to repairing the federal budget. The government is presenting the move symbolically: If all citizens had to contribute to budget consolidation, the signal from the Chancellery goes, then the parties should not be exempt.