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Chair of the Chamber of Deputies' Foreign Policy Committee, Rozalia Biro of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) said today that the topics discussed during her recent talk with Austrian ambassador Isabel Rauscher included the situation of Romanian caregivers in Austria, benefits for non-resident children, Romanian exports and dual education experience exchanges, agerpres.ro confirms.
"Romanians living in Austria are the second largest community of EU citizens, after the Germans. Therefore, Austria is an important partner for us not only because we celebrated in 2020 one hundred years of Romanian - Austrian diplomatic relations, and not just because we share a relatively similar system of values, but also because, officially, there were 131,788 Romanian citizens in Austria as of January 1, 2021, by 6 percent more than in the year before," Rozalia Biro told a press conference.
According to the cited official, talks with ambassador Isabel Rauscher also tackled Romania's trade balance, which runs a deficit of 965 million euros, the areas where Romania can increase its exports to Austria, and particularly the subject of the about 33,000 Romanian caregivers who reside in Austria (most of whom are women).
"We know that Austria has had some general restrictions on foreign workers. This is why the decision was taken at government level - and we'll also take relevant steps in Parliament - to set up a bilateral expert working group of the Foreign Policy Committees of the Romanian and Austrian Parliament, as well as a bilateral group of experts of the Labor Ministries of the two countries. These bodies will be tasked with finding a common denominator for ensuring the rights of Romanian caregivers, in particular, who work in Austria. I hope that by the end of May these groups will be up and running," Biro pointed out.
She also mentioned several legislative measures taken recently by Austria, which have a negative impact on citizen and workforce mobility within the EU.
"Let us not forget that the law adjusting benefits for non-resident children, which was introduced in Austria in 2018 and came in force in 2019 has practically meant halving child allowances. Whereas until then they were collecting between 140 and 190 euros, after the law came in force this amount was cut to half. We consider that round-the clock caregivers for elderly in Austria must receive all the necessary rights and security they need for carrying out their work properly, especially in the context of the pandemic that prevents them from coming home, and also makes their work more difficult," the deputy specified.
Rozalia Biro also mentioned that 213 work accidents - of which 10 deadly - have been registered between January 2018 and December 2019 among the Romanian citizens who reside in Austria.
Another important cooperation field that can be further developed is the exchange of experience in dual education, said the UDMR MP, who invited the Austrian ambassador to Oradea, to initiate a bilateral project in this respect.
"Mrs. Ambassador promised to facilitate the creation of these joint cooperation groups between the Labor Ministries and at parliamentary level. (...) We hope to reach a consensus relatively quickly," concluded Rozalia Biro.
