COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS REVIEWS THIRD PERIODIC REPORT OF AUSTRIA

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights completed its review today of the third periodic report of Austria on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Introducing the report was Harald Dossi, of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, who said Austria was fully committed to the aims of the International Covenant and it might be considered an example of the European standard as to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Austria was relatively a prosperous country, had a free market economy, and was committed to social values and solidarity.

General equality and equal participation of women and men in civil society as well as in economic and political life was a fundamental and important goal, which had not yet been achieved worldwide, Mr. Dossi said. Gender equality policy should be an integral part of employment and social policies as well as policies in other fields, such as education, cultural affairs, human rights and economic affairs. Gender mainstreaming was a strategy to achieve gender equality and had to be established in all policy areas. The representation of women at the top level of political decision-making was thus of crucial importance. Women held 50 per cent of the ministerial posts in the Austrian Government. They were also increasingly caching up in the business life.

Over the course of the discussion, which was held over three meetings, there was an exchange between the 18-member Committee and the 15-member delegation from Austria on issues including unemployment; domestic violence; child pornography and child prostitution; forced evictions and adequate housing; high tuition fees; and poverty reduction measures.

Several Experts raised a number of questions pertaining to social security and pension schemes; Austria’s contribution to international development cooperation; homelessness; tobacco and alcoholic consumption; reproductive health; the situation of migrants and asylum seekers; and childcare centres, among other things.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Austria at the end of its three-week session on 25 November.

Members of the delegation included representatives of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Austria; Ministry for Education, Science and Culture; Ministry for Health and Women; Ministry for the Interior; Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection; Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour; and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 11 November, it will begin its review of the initial report of Uzbekistan (E/1990/5/Add. 63).

Report of Austria

The third periodic report of Austria, contained in document E/1994/104/Add.28, highlights the State party’s international efforts to implement the objectives covered by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the legislative and other measures taken at the national level in order to reach these objectives. Austria has a very comprehensive social welfare State system which is supported by a broad political and social consensus. More recent developments in the approach to fundamental rights, as well as the relevant case law of the Austrian Constitutional Court, also provide protection under the constitutional law. Although no catalogue of fundamental social rights has been drawn up at the federal level, the federal constitutional law does comprise a number of provisions that contain important social law guarantees.

The report notes that initiatives are being stepped up to improve the labour market situation for women. Specific measures targeting women and young women of all educational backgrounds are being taken to avoid the risk of unemployment. To ensure youth employment, future-oriented vocational training will continue to be an essential element of Austria’s employment policy. A job programme for people with disabilities has been started to improve their integration in the labour market.
In the educational field, an education allowance was introduced in 2000, thus creating an important tax incentive for further education and training. A number of collective agreements include regulations on paid leave for short-term training and special
training purposes. Within the framework of lifelong learning, Austria has set itself the target of raising the number of low-skilled workers who participate every year in programmes to train skills.

Introduction of Report

WOLFGANG PETRITSCH, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said his Government attached great importance to the work of the Committee and hoped that the two-day meetings would be fruitful. He introduced the members of the Austrian delegation.

HARALD DOSSI, of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, said Austria was fully committed to the aims of the International Covenant and it might be considered an example of the European standard as to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Austria was a relatively prosperous country with a free market economy, and it was committed to social values and solidarity. Questions and possible problems arising from the application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were certainly different from those of many other countries.

With regard to development assistance, Mr. Dossi said Austria was committed to meeting its international obligations. In 2005 and 2006, Austria would not only meet the 0.33 per cent target, but it expected to expand and exceed that benchmark. Austria also supported the European Union agreement on Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). Austria would thus continue to make major efforts to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals.

General equality and equal participation of women and men in civil society as well as in economic and political life was a fundamental and important goal, which had not yet been achieved worldwide, Mr. Dossi said. Gender equality policy should be an integral part of employment and social policies as well as policies in other fields, such as education, cultural affairs, human rights and economic affairs. Gender mainstreaming was a strategy to achieve gender equality and had to be established in all policy areas. The number of women in decision-making positions was one of the indicators of the status of de facto equality. The representation of women at the top level of political decision-making was thus of crucial importance. Women held 50 per cent of the ministerial posts in the Austrian Government. They were also increasingly caching up in the business life.

On the issue of equal treatment in general, Mr. Dossi said new stipulations were introduced regarding the legislation on equal treatment in the country effective 1 July 2004. The new legislation on equal treatment primarily served to transpose the anti-discrimination directives adopted pursuant to article 13 of the European Union treaty. The anti-discrimination directives covered the areas of occupation and employment, as well as social protection, social benefits, education and access to and supply of goods and services. The Framework Directives on Equal Treatment and the amended Directives on Equal Treatment only covered the areas of employment and occupation. All directives were applied to the public and the private sectors. New regulations were provided for damages in connection with the violations of the equal treatment requirement.

Austrian labour market policy was aimed at preventing and eliminating unemployment, Mr. Dossi said. To that end, a number of new initiatives had been taken based on specific labour policy targets including qualification and development of human resources, equal opportunities for women and men, the fight against social exclusion, transparency in the labour marker, and preference to active labour market measures. The budget for active labour market policy measures in line with a full-employment strategy had been increased.

On asylum policy, Mr. Dossi said the year 2004 had seen a distinct decrease in the number of asylum applications as compared to 2003. That trend had also been continuing throughout 2005. Numerous asylum cases were still pending at the Federal Asylum Agency and the independent Federal Asylum Review Board. The amendments to the 2003 Asylum Act had not only served to accelerate asylum proceedings but also resulted in faster decisions in individual cases.

Questions Raised by Experts

Referring to the introductory statement made by the head of the delegation, an Expert said the Austrian figure of international development assistance of 0.33 per cent was inferior to the target of 0.7 per cent set by the United Nations. As regards the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Expert observed that many developed countries, including Austria, had shown reluctance in rapidly ratifying the Convention. Most of those countries that ratified the Convention were from the developing countries, whose nationals were subjected to migration. Did Austria intend to ratify the Convention?

Another Expert also asked why Austria had to wait until 2015 to attain the target of 0.7 per cent. Concerning asylum, the Expert said although the number of asylum seekers was decreasing, the period for processing asylum requests was still long. In addition, it was difficult for an asylum seeker to make appeals and to reach a higher instance of the judiciary. What solutions could be found to resolve the problems of assistance to asylum seekers? Were asylum seekers under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government or the Landers?

One speaker asked if the State party had consulted civil society before compiling the current report that was submitted to the Committee. Were NGOs aware of the written questions sent by the Committee members to the Government in advance?

Referring to the concluding observations of the Committee on the second periodic report of Austria in which the Committee requested the State party to withdraw its reservations on the Covenant, an Expert recalled that the State party’s reservations on the direct application of the provisions of the International Covenant were still pending. He wanted to know if new legislation was put in place permitting the direct application of the Covenant into the domestic law.

Another Expert was also of the view that the federal law might not be compatible with the provisions of the Covenant to allow its direct application. He asked if the Lander laws contradicted the provisions of the Covenant.

An Expert noted that as a senior State party to the International Covenant, Austria had not clearly indicated that economic, social and cultural rights were justiciable. He wanted to know if an individual was able to bring his case of violations of the rights under the treaty before the Austrian courts. As a forerunner advocate in human rights, particularly as a host to the Vienna human rights conference, Austria should be an example in those areas and in setting up independent national human rights commissions.

Another Expert said the necessary environment should be constructed for racial harmony and most particularly for racial tolerance. Legislative provisions solely could not be enough to promote racial tolerance. In what kind of framework was Austria implementing the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action?

With regard to international development assistance, an Expert asked if the assistance was also targeted to relieve poor developing countries from their debt burden.

On the rights of migrants and the members of their families, another Expert asked about the manner in which Austria was managing the fund it had allocated for migrant families. What rights did non-nationals enjoy in the country?

Response by Delegation

In response, the delegation said Austria had not made any reservations to its obligations under the International Covenant. Austria was also one of the few countries that maintained flexible positions with regard to self-execution of international treaties. Since national legislation was in line with Austria’s international obligations, further legal norms were not necessary to transform the International Covenant into the legal system.

The administrative instances were competent to respond to queries and complaints by individuals before the courts were seized, the delegation said. The office of the Ombudsman was also an institution that provided response to individual complaints. Austria believed that the multiplication and duplication of human rights institutions were unnecessary.

Thirty per cent of Austria’s overseas development assistance went to bilateral partners, the delegation said. The development cooperation also included southeastern European countries of the former communist regimes. Since Austria was intensifying its efforts in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, it was estimated that it would reach the 0.7 per cent GNP assistance before 2015. As a party to the Paris Club, Austria was also contributing to debt cancellation efforts of the developing countries.

Good governance, peace resolution and development as well as the provisions of the International Covenant guided Austria’s international development cooperation, the delegation said. Its development cooperation was also carried out in conjunction with other development partners.

Illegal migrants were not included in the official figure with regard to statistics on foreigners, the delegation said. Austria was taking measures to fight illegal work and illegal migration. An employer could be subjected to a penalty if he engaged illegal migrants. At present, the number of part time workers in the country was increasing because of female workers’ preference to stay home. The wide wage gap between men and women employees was still a concern to the Government. In order to reduce the gap, the Government had taken measures by designing a programme in which women were encouraged to undertake professional training that would bring them better salaries.

The centres for asylum seekers took care of individuals who submitted applications, the delegation said. The Government also appointed asylum legal advisors to assist the asylum seekers in their cases. At present, Austria was providing care to more than 28,000 asylum seekers and migrants. Because of the highly functional NGO groups, the Government was strictly applying the law on asylum to avoid any confrontation with those groups. NGOs were able to sue the authorities in the event of irregularities in handling asylum cases.

On the development of the non-discrimination legislation, the delegation said that the provision was also applicable to schoolteachers. Any acts of discrimination towards school pupils by their teacher might cost the teacher his or her job once disciplinary measures were considered.

With regard to the Roma and other minorities, the delegation said all minority groups were guaranteed equality and enjoyed all the State support to uphold their cultures. The State provided financial assistance to promote and protect their particular interests, including the preservations of their cultural values and disseminating them through radio and newspapers.

The delegation said that there were currently no plans to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. However, the current legislation on the employment of foreigners and the transposition of a number of European Union directives in the field of migration implemented the principles of the Convention to the greatest possible extent.

In a follow-up question, an Expert said the establishment of a human rights institution was not a duplication as indicated by the delegation. Many European countries had created such institutions in accordance with the Paris Principles on the establishment of independent national human rights institutions.

Reacting, the delegation said the existing institutions and laws provided ample space to fill the role of national human rights institutions. However, the issue would be discussed once the delegation returned to Vienna. The Ombudsman was also playing an important role in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Questions by Experts

An Expert asked if work contracts had limited or unlimited durations, noting that longer contracts ensured employees a stable situation. If the work contract was for a short period, it might not guarantee the worker a future in his or her professional career. On the issue of minimum wage, the Austrian legislation left the imposition of minimum wage to the contractual partners. The law only described what should be a minimum wage without determining the average figure. Concerning trade unions, the Expert asked about the real situation on the ground and about restrictions on or permissions for the right to strike?

Another Expert said the gap between men and women in terms of salaries for similar work was the widest among the European countries, at times going up to 40 per cent. He wanted to know about the efforts made to narrow such a wide gap. The rate of poverty was 13 per cent, which was unacceptable for a country like Austria, with the minimum wage being the lowest.

The long career break for mothers after birth might be a handicap to reintegrate them into their previous posts, an Expert noted. She asked if the unemployment benefits were enough to lead a decent life.

Response by Delegation

With regards to questions on the flexible working system, the delegation said the law also protected the rights of employee-like persons, and employers were required to provide written employment conditions to their employees. The right to equal treatment clause also safeguarded those persons from being exploited.

In Austria, there was no legal minimum wage, the delegation said, adding that it was decided by collective agreements on a sector-by-sector basis. The collective agreements were negotiated by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the employers, while trade unions represented workers. Non-union members could benefit from the impact of the collective agreements.

During the duration of a collective agreement, strikes should not distort the principle of peaceful industrial development. The Austrian legal system did not contain any specific standards that governed strikes. The State was neutral with regard to labour disputes, and strikes were rare in Austria.

The Austrian labour force was increasing while at the same time unemployment was rising, the delegation said. The participation of women between the ages of 50 and 60 in work had increased by 12.2 per cent. The labour supply on the part of the youth was also growing. This year, however, the demand was 33,500 while the supply was 43,000, leaving about 10,000 persons without work. Another factor to the rise in labour force was the coming of European Union member nationals to Austria for work.

Women who wished to return to work after a long parental leave received subsidies until they were fully integrated, the delegation said. At present, about 22,000 women were benefiting from the scheme.

Austria had made a study on the structure of poverty related to household income, the delegation said. If people earned lower incomes, the State provided social assistance to uphold their living standard. Recipients of assistance were exempted from paying charges. In the years 1999 and 2000, the number of children living below the poverty threshold went down by 53 per cent.

On the issue of unequal payment for equal amount of work, which normally victimized women, the delegation said that the gap was 17 per cent and not 40 per cent as alluded to by one Expert. Compared to European standards, the Austrian situation of unequal payment for women stood in the middle. However, the Government was launching an awareness campaign to further reduce the gap, which was affecting women.

Questions by Committee Experts

An Expert said 13 per cent of people were living below the poverty line, which had been confirmed by the delegation. Were there no welfare social systems that assisted people in such situations? Older persons and female heads of a family were most affected by poverty. Was there a means to resolve the situation of those who were permanently receiving assistance from the State?

Another Expert said that employees working under temporary work contracts were not paid for the hours beyond 40 hours per week. Some enterprises obliged workers to work up to 60 hours without pay. Workers continue to do the job for fear that their contracts would be repealed. What measures could be considered to resolve the problem?

One Expert said the number of fixed and long-term contracts was decreasing in favour of short-term contracts. Was there a difference between Austrians and foreigners in receiving retirement benefit? The foreigner who worked at least for seven years was entitled to retirement payments. What were the laws governing retirement for foreigners?

A lot of mothers were excluded from the labour market because of the lack of childcare centres, the delegation said. Only eight per cent of working mothers had access to childcare facilities. The Expert requested information on the efforts made by the State party to increase such centres.

Response by Delegation

The calculation period for pensions was now up to 15 years of working life in most cases, the delegation said. The new pension scheme was still transitional until 2035. The social security system allowed foreigners to be integrated into the system and to benefit from health insurance. The laws on social security included all persons living in the country, including foreigners and persons without residence permits. In Austria, all persons were potentially covered by statuary health insurance protection.

The provisions of childcare facilities were under the competence of the Landers and the Federal Government had no influence in that sphere, the delegation said. However, discussion was going on at present to increase childcare centres throughout the country.

The Austrian law on retirement was equal for citizens and foreigners, the delegation said. In addition, there were bilateral agreements with many countries on the issue of retirement payments for foreigners who had contributed to the Austrian pension scheme. The payments were calculated on the basis of the working period of the individual. No national of any country was required to work a longer period to receive pension benefits.

Questions by Experts

An Expert said Austria had described legislation pertaining to domestic violence and child pornography and prostitution. He asked how serious was the situation on the ground with regard to such crimes?

The provinces were in charge of social assistance to vulnerable individuals, another Expert said. What was the situation of homeless persons? He recommended that the State party provide, in its next periodic report, data on the situation of homeless people, explaining why they were homeless. On the issue of evictions, the Expert requested information on the situation of homeless people due to evictions in all parts of the country, and not only in Vienna. What measures had been taken to raise awareness on safe reproductive health among the young?

Referring to the consumption of alcohol, narcotics and cigarettes by youth, another Expert said the report had provided excellent data on these issues. Other sources had shown a rising tendency in the consumption of narcotics and alcoholic drinks by children. The situation could be tantamount to a violation of the rights of the child. What measures were being taken to tackle the problem? The report said that tobacco consumption would be prohibited in the future in certain public places. Were the authorities already taking measures in that direction?

On the issue of drugs involving juveniles, an Expert said the phenomenon was widely spread. What measures were being taken to raise awareness on narcotic consumption? She said forced eviction was a cause for homelessness; what was the situation of those homeless persons? Did they receive alternative housing facilities?

Also speaking on homelessness, another Expert said the replies provided to the Committee to the list of questions it sent to the State party only dealt with homelessness in Vienna. What was the situation in the other seven Landers? Forcefully evicted persons were temporary sheltered in centres, and they then had to find permanent housing by their own. What would happen if they did not find such facilities?

Response by Delegation

Austria did not have specific problems with regard to child pornography and child prostitution, the delegation said. There might be isolated cases as in many other countries, but it was not a worrying phenomenon. Also, tobacco and alcoholic consumption was not a typical Austrian problem. In all public places, separation of smokers from non-smokers was being encouraged. Many Landers had also taken measures to ban smoking from some public places. By the end of 2007, it was expected that public places such as restaurants would reduce smoking areas by 90 per cent.

The situation of alcoholic consumption was i.a. related to the extensive wine production of the country, the delegation said. However, preventive measures were being taken against abusive drinking of alcohol. Alcoholism was also officially recognized as a disease and victims were provided with anti-intoxication treatments.

A person was considered to be a child until he or she reached the age of 18, the delegation said. After that age, the person acted as an adult and the law on the child was not applied to that individual.

The 1971 regulation on domestic violence authorized the police to remove the perpetrator from the house where the violence was committed, the delegation said. Women victims were placed in shelters where they received rehabilitation facilities. Most of the centres were headed by non-governmental organizations. The centres received subsidies from the Government.

Most of the homeless persons lived in Vienna because of the phenomenon of exodus to big cities, the delegation said. In 2002, there had been 40,000 cases of evictions involving 80,000 persons who received assistance from State agencies before they were relocated.

Parental leave should be agreed between the mother and the father, the delegation said. The father and the mother had to agree on how to share the two-year parental leave.

The concept of Austrian marriage was limited to a union between a man and a woman, the delegation said. However, non-marriage partnerships (including same-sex partnerships) enjoyed almost the same rights in most areas.

In order to reduce social exclusion, the Government had put in place a national plan of action to integrate women into the labour market through vocational training. Educational programmes were also implemented to improve the performance of individuals who had been excluded from the labour market.

In response to a question on teenage pregnancy, the delegation said the subject was not a major problem in the country. Out of the 76,000 live births in 2003, only 15 were by teenagers under 15 years of age, while 1,676 were attributed to girls below 18. The campaign on reproductive health had produced results in this field.

The Government’s policy on housing had had positive consequences on the shortage of houses, the delegation said. Those persons evicted from their houses did not end as homeless because of the Government’s efforts to accommodate them in shelters.

Questions by Experts

On the issue of education, an Expert asked about the guarantees given to low-income categories of the society in accessing higher education. He asked about the fees paid to pursue higher studies.

With regard to agricultural products, another Expert asked about the State party’s position on genetically modified organisms, particularly in line with food security.

One Expert asked about the position of women in teaching activities at the higher level. He requested information on the important positions held by women in the academic field, particularly at the university level and in scientific fields.

Another Expert observed that the tuition fees introduced to attend higher institutions were too expensive. Austrian students were required to pay 363 Euros per semester to attend universities. That amount was double for foreign students. Since tuition fees were introduced, the number of students had decreased.

The newspapers in Slovenian and Croatian languages were devoted to religious affairs, an Expert said. He asked why those two languages were not used to express matters other than spiritual affairs.

Another Expert asked about the efforts made by Austria to educate its citizens on racial tolerance with reference to the Holocaust.

Response of Delegation

The delegation said that it was a bit ironic that Austria was targeted concerning organically modified organisms. Austria was very strict on the matter and the use of organically modified organisms was very restricted. The issue of organically modified organisms was still under discussion by the international community, and Austria was taking part in these discussions.


On the issue of tuition fees, the delegation said the increase in fees was a world phenomenon. During the period when tuition was free, the number of students had gone down. In the winter term of 2000, before the fees were introduced, the number of students was 254, 341. The number fell to 209,101 when tuition fees were introduced. However, the number of students successfully completing their studies did not vary much, and was in fact rising. The Government was providing study grants and subsidies to students coming from low-income families. About 20 per cent of students received such grants, of which 60 per cent were females.

Responding to a question on education and tolerance, the delegation said the Government continuously made intensive efforts to educate citizens on racial tolerance. The State had contacts with Holocaust victims to come and give lectures to pupils on the Holocaust.

The number of female lecturers at the university level was increasing, the delegation said. In order to attract even more women to join university staff, the Government was providing grants to university students so that they later joined the teaching profession.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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