Tag: Austria

EU officials and politicians are increasingly alarmed at Austria's handling of Rakhat Aliyev, a former Kazakh ambassador legally resident in the country, who has been linked to several murder and torture cases. 

Austria said it was considering holding a referendum on Turkey's EU accession, even if the candidate country successfully completes its accession negotiations. The statement apparently left Ankara unimpressed. EurActiv Turkey reports.

The Chancellor of Austria, Social Democrat Werner Faymann, joined anti-nuclear activists on Monday (25 April) to call for a public campaign to eliminate nuclear power in the European Union. His aides now say the Chancellor hopes to mobilise public opinion to prompt the launch of a European Citizens' Initiative.

Werner Faymann, the Austrian chancellor, has rejected Germany's calls to penalise countries that break EU budget discipline rules, saying he does not believe in changing the treaties to fix the euro zone's debt problems. In an exclusive interview with EurActiv.de, he also gives his views on France’s controversial Roma expulsions.

Austria re-elected Social Democrat Heinz Fischer to the largely ceremonial post of president on 25 April, underscoring the far right's failure to win over conservative voters.

Austria believes Croatia can wrap up its accession negotiations with the EU this year and join in 2012, Austrian President Heinz Fischer said after talks with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Josipović in Vienna on Monday (15 March).

"I wish everybody could discover the added value of Europe at least once in their lifetime," Johannes Hahn, Austria's commissioner-designate for regional policy, told EurActiv Germany in an exclusive interview.

Two EU countries and Switzerland last week (13 March) announced their intention to amend banking secrecy rules following pressure from the OECD and its members.

The victory of the Social Democrats in the general elections on Sunday (28 September) was overshadowed by the resurgence of the extreme right, with the two populist parties virtually holding a near-majority in the new parliament.

Austria's government collapsed today (July 7) over contradictions between coalition partners on how to reform the health system and a highly controversial statement by Prime Minister Alfred Gusenbauer on holding referenda on future EU treaties.

According to Swiss police reports, Al-Qaida has threatened to launch attacks on the European football championships due to be held in Austria and Switzerland in June, leading to heightened vigilance by security forces.

Slovakia has joined Austria's bid to host the proposed European Institute of Innovation and Technology in the hope that a twin-city headquarters initiative will convince ministers to give them the nomination.

The Czech Republic got bad marks for failing to curb its budget deficit with the Commission urging the country to get its budget below the 3% of GDP threshold by 2008.

Following months of negotiation, the new grand coalition government of Alfred Gusenbauer was announced on 8 January 2007.

With a drop of more than 8% in votes, Wolfgang Schüssel's Christian-Democrats suffered a surprise defeat in the Austrian parliamentary elections. Social-democrat Alfred Gusenbauer is expected to become the next chancellor of a possible "grand" coalition, similar to Germany's.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is the last former Yugoslav republic to have opened talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU.

With the Parliament rejecting the hard fought long term EU budget deal, Austria is arguing for an EU tax to avoid tiresome cash negotiations in the future.    

The Austrian Green MEP Johannes Voggenhuber was, together with British Liberal Andrew Duff, the Parliament's rapporteur on the EU Constitution. Both MEPs are also rapporteurs for the report on the period of reflection, to be voted in plenary in the January 16 -19 session. In an exclusive interview with EurActiv, he commented on how likely the Austrian Presidency were to relaunch the stalled constitutional process.

The Austrian EU presidency has taken on a jam-packed agenda for enlargement and external relations. The main priority will be the Western Balkans, but the issue of Turkey’s EU membership bid will also carry significant weight.

In an exclusive interview with EurActiv, Austria's EU ambassador Gregor Woschnagg defends Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel's low-profile approach to solving the EU's constitutional crisis.

Prior to meeting the European Commission in Vienna, the Austrian EU presidency has announced its intention to revive the Constitution. However, details on the way ahead remain sketchy.

Turkey and Croatia are both on the official path to full EU membership after a long day of gruelling EU negotiations.

In a number of interviews, Karl-Heinz Grasser, the likely future president of the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council under the upcoming Austrian presidency, has called for a deferral of accession talks with Turkey.

The parliaments of Austria and Slovakia overwhelmingly approved the European Constitution on 11 May. Next up is the vote in Germany's Bundestag.