WIFO at Meeting of German-speaking Ministers of Social Affairs and Health

One focus of the exchange was on improving the poverty resilience of minimum social standards, on which Christine Mayrhuber provided input based on the analyses of the Austrian Social Report 2024.

Margit Schratzenstaller presented the manifold interactions between the welfare state and climate change. She also addressed transformative approaches to enhance the climate-friendliness of the Austrian welfare state on the one hand and to promote sustainable social structures on the other hand.

At an informal meeting of social affairs and health ministers from Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland in the end of April with Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (Switzerland), Minister Martine Deprez (Luxembourg), Government Councillor Manuel Frick (Liechtenstein), the two German State Secretaries Rolf Schmachtenberg (Ministry of Social Affairs) and Edgar Franke (Ministry of Health) and Austrian Minister of Social Affairs and Health Johannes Rauch, the focus was on the further development of the welfare state.