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“Austerity package re-opened,” headlines Die Presse in the wake of the Austrian government’s announcement that it intends to relaunch negotiations on the country’s 2011 budget. Preparations for the current version of the document were hampered by regional elections, and it is now considered socially unjust and politically awkward. In particular, protests against plans to cut student grants and raise taxes on petrol and banking transactions will now be taken into account — a development deplored by the Viennese daily, which wonders if the government will give in to the many demands from Churches, unions and students. Social-democratic Chancellor Werner Faymann has allowed himself to get drawn into “muddled negociations” that will endanger the state’s economic objectives, complains Die Presse.
