Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel was awarded the golden Ludwig Erhard memorial coin in Berlin on 1 June 2006 by the Economic Council of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The ceremony was held on the occasion of the “Day of Economy 2006“ of the CDU’s Economic Council, where Schüssel also presented a statement on the subject “Austria’s successful reforms – new perspectives for Europe“. German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel participated in the conference. “Germany has an incredible potential”, stressed Schüssel. He called for more courage to make reforms and investments. In this context, the Federal Chancellor highlighted several examples of successful reforms realised in Austria, e.g. in the areas of infrastructure, research and labour market policy. In Austria the average duration of placing jobless people dropped to 100 days, in Germany this period is twice as long. ■

After the Council of Ministers on 1 June 2006, Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel announced that working groups on issues like security, family, education and youth as well as labour market and religion would be set up to initiate further steps in the integration dialogue. It was a special concern to him to continue the dialogue with the religious communities, which has a long-standing tradition in Austria and has been hailed as exemplary all over Europe, stated Schüssel. ■

This year the Board of Ombudspersons for Gender Equality celebrates its 15th anniversary. No less than 4418 new petitions were registered in 2005. Minister for Women’s Affairs Maria Rauch-Kallat and the equality ombudspersons praised that the Board had “greatly helped to develop” awareness in gender issues. Women still suffered from discrimination but progress had been made in punishing “sexual harassment at work”. ■

Federal Chancellor and President in office of the European Council Wolfgang Schüssel warned that the enlarged European Union could be deprived of its capacity to act if the Treaty for a European Constitution did not enter into force. In a Union with soon 27 members the complicated decision-making structures should be “simplified drastically” to preserve its capacity to act, explained Schüssel in the German newspaper “Bild am Sonntag“ on 11 June 2006. Only a few days before the EU summit in Brussels (15/16 June 2006), Schüssel pleaded for an EU-wide referendum: “I think it could be a good idea to hold a referendum simultaneously in all EU Member States. The Constitution would be adopted if the majority of the European population and the majority of states voted for it“, stated the EU Council President. ■

New Italian head of government Romano Prodi starts his first European tour with an official visit to Vienna, where he will discuss EU issues and the current global situation with Federal Chancellor and incumbent Council President Wolfgang Schüssel on 13 June 2006. ■

The EU Member States have reached an agreement with Cyprus on opening concrete accession negotiations with Turkey. This was announced by the Austrian Council Presidency at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on 12 June 2006. In a joint declaration the EU stressed that Turkey had to implement the Additional Protocol. Hence, Ankara has to open its ports and airports to Cyprus by the end of 2006. Moreover, Turkey has to recognise Cyprus diplomatically in the course of the entry negotiations. The first negotiation chapter “science and research” will be closed preliminarily after the negotiation start. A preliminary conclusion of the first chapter of entry negotiations was reached also with Croatia. An EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed with Albania. This is considered the first step towards EU membership. ■

US President George W. Bush will travel to Vienna on 21 June 2006 to participate in the EU-USA summit. This is the first official visit of an American head of state to Austria after many decades. In the meeting held in Große Redoutensaal (Great Ballroom) of Hofburg, the US will be represented by Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The EU counterparts in the conference are EU Council President, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana. The Bush visit will take place against the background of tightest security. According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 2000 policemen will be protect persons, objects and routes. ■

With no other partner did the EU maintain more intensive and diversified relations than with the USA. Therefore good and solid Transatlantic relations were crucial to any EU Council Presidency, stated Ursula Plassnik in the EU Parliament in Brussels on 31 May 2006. In this spirit, the Austrian EU Presidency would provide fresh impetus to the common efforts to promote peace, democracy and human rights at the EU-USA summit in Vienna. ■

The EU Member States agreed on a more intensive cooperation in external energy policy in Luxembourg on 8 June 2006. There was a “general consensus”, said Council President Minister for Economic Martin Bartenstein after the meeting of energy ministers. EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs praised the “significant progress in the integrated EU energy policy“. The EU Member States also agree to promote a closer energy partnership with Russia. Especially after the gas crisis early this year Russia has been requested to abolish the state monopoly so as to allow European companies to produce gas in Russia. Only if this requirement is met, will the EU permit the Russian Gazprom to boost its share in the European end consumer market. So far, Russia has not signed the energy charter. The Energy Community Treaty signed by the 25 EU Member States and nine South Eastern European countries will enter into force on 1 July 2006. ■

On 8 June 2006 Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel received Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovksi. The key subject discussed were Macedonia’s efforts of approximation to the EU. Macedonia had been granted the status of an EU membership candidate in late 2005. ■

The foreign ministers of the five veto powers in the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, China, France, Great Britain) and Germany agreed on a common proposal to Iran at their summit in Vienna on 1 June 2006. The condition set for an economic incentives package is a stop of uranium enrichment by Teheran. In a counter-move the UN veto powers would discontinue their activities in the UN Security Council and the USA would be prepared to engage in direct talks. In the event that Iran refuses to cooperate, the offer provides for penal measures not explained in more detail; military sanctions were, however, excluded. The response of Teheran is expected before the G-8 summit in mid July. The EU’s foreign policy official Javier Solana presented the Vienna compromise paper to settle the nuclear dispute to Teheran on 6 June 2006. Iran has signalled its readiness to engage in dialogue but flatly refused to give up uranium enrichment. Austrian Federal Chancellor and Council President in office Wolfgang Schüssel advocated that more powerful tools for the international control of nuclear technology should be created but warned against increasing pressure on the government in Teheran. Iran should have time to examine the offer up to the G-8 summit. ■

The Council of Presidents of the Employers’ Confederation of Europe (UNICE) held a meeting in Vienna on 8 and 9 June 2006. More than 30 presidents and directors general of national federations of industrialists and employers participated in the meeting chaired by UNICE President Ernest-Antoine Seillière. Austria was represented e.g. by the President of the Federation of Industrialists and UNICE Vice President, Veit Sorger. The deliberations focused on current economic and EU policy issues, e.g. the recently adopted EU Services Directive, WTO developments and the future of Europe. The results will be taken into account in the negotiations with the European employees’ representations and are to be discussed at the summit of EU heads of state and government in June. Minister for Economics Bartenstein demanded that the EU should focus on four priorities in the future: employment, research and development, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as energy supply. ■

After tough negotiations of several weeks, the trade union bank BAWAG severely hit by the Refco and Caribbean speculation debacles agreed with the Refco creditors and the US authorities in New York on 5 June 2006 to pay about 1.3 billion US dollars (1 billion euro). Thus BAWAG and its sole owner, the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB), prevented several-billion class-action lawsuits. The settlement is likely to be signed before the US bankruptcy court in late June. With this extraordinary general settlement between BAWAG and the US claimants, the trade union bank’s financial statements for 2005 can finally be drawn up and its owner can move ahead with selling it. The basis for BAWAG’s balance sheet 2005 (with a minor profit of 6.2 million euro) is the government’s guarantee of 900 million euro, for which the (formal) approval of the EU Commission is pending. The settlement with the US creditors provides for payment in two instalments: 150 million dollars immediately and 525 million dollars after the sale of BAWAG. ■

On 30 May 2006 the annual general meeting of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) had approved the repurchase of a total of 20% of the OeNB shares from the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions and BAWAG by the Republic of Austria, which now holds 70% of the OeNB shares. The transfer of the shares to the Republic forms part of the agreement on the BAWAG rescue package adopted in early May. ■

Global trade will grow by almost 7% annually by 2010. Global output is expected to rise by 4.5% p.a. in this period. These data were provided by the Economic Research Institute (Wifo) in its latest forecast of 6 June 2006. Growth would be considerably faster than in the period 2000 to 2005. In a comparison of industrialised countries, the US would continue to register a higher growth rate (+3.1%) than the EU-25 (+2.1%), stated the experts. According to Wifo, the Austrian economy would record a real GDP growth of 2.1% p.a. up to 2010, surpassing the average growth of the remaining euro zone. ■

The share of the Austrian postal company – “Österreichische Post AG” – celebrated a spectacular Vienna Stock Exchange debut on 31 May 2006. The share opened at 20.90 euro, remarkably exceeding the issue price of 19 euro. The stock market newcomer closed its first trading day at 21.70 euro (plus 14.21%). The state-owned holding company ÖIAG benefits from proceeds of about 650 million euro. “We joined the champions’ league with this public offering”, Anton Wais, CEO of the Mail Services, was pleased to inform. As the Federal Chancellor said, “the highly successful development” of the share showed that “the concept of the privatisation project had been right“. He also underlined the high employee participation (approx. 5%) and that more than half of the 49% privatised were still held by Austrian owners. Including the greenshoe, 34.3 million shares were sold (status 2 June). ■

The Austrian Cultural Forum holds a special position among the foreign institutes and academies in Rome as – together with the “Ecole Française” founded in 1874 – it is one of the oldest institutions of this type in the Italian capital. The historical research centre “Istituto Austriaco di Studii Storici“ had been established in June 1881. In the period between the two World Wars the institute was restructured into a cultural institute. This was formally confirmed in a cultural agreement concluded between Austria and Italy in 1954. Austria and Italy have engaged in traditionally intensive cooperation in the field of culture and science. Since 1993 Milan has been the hub for Austria’s cultural activities in Northern Italy, while the Cultural Forum in Rome concentrates on central and southern Italy. In recent years the Cultural Forum has endeavoured to present a multi-facetted image of present-day Austria, especially by highlighting contemporary artistic creation. The spotlight is on literature, architecture, dance, the audiovisual media with forms of expression such as design, multimedia performances and video art. To mark the anniversary of the foundation, a ceremony was conducted at Capitol on 7 June 2006, which was opened by Rome’s mayor Walter Veltroni. In the preliminaries Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik had stressed that the “Cultural Forum Rome and the Forum’s Historical Institute were in a very special way representatives of Austria’s cultural and scientific achievements in Rome and Italy”. “Since its foundation 125 years ago, the Cultural Forum has been performing highly successful work and has thus consolidated lastingly the interest in Austria as a close neighbour of Italy as well as a partner in culture, science and the humanities in a city of global cultural significance“. ■

The Austro-American architect and (stage) designer Friedrich Kiesler (1890-1965) was famed as a visionary propagating a holistic-organic approach to the human and to space. Austria’s art and architecture award with the highest prize money is named after him. Since 1998 the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna have taken turns in awarding the prize. After Frank O. Gehry, Judith Barry, Cedric Price and Asym¬ptote, the renowned award has been conferred on Olafur Eliasson on 7 June 2006 by Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer. The visual artist born as the son of Islandic parents in Copenhagen in 1967 has run a planning studio in Berlin with up to 50 employees since 1995. Currently it produces the designs for the front of the new concert hall in Reykjavik and the annex of the Hischhorn Collection in Washington. For Olafur Eliasson interdisciplinary thinking is a standard practice, while he rejects “elitist tendencies in art“. Art should be fun and was to be embedded in society. His presentations, e.g. the installation of a monumental simulated sunrise (“Weather Project“) at the London Tate Modern, melting icebergs in art halls or the impressive artificial landscapes he conjured up in Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2001 (“The mediated motion“) have always established links between nature, art and architecture which have a direct impact on the onlooker without being trivial. Hence, the jury stated in its decision that Eliasson’s art was a “complex modelling of the parameters of time and space perceptible with the senses and based on scientific research as well as on philosophical and perceptual-theoretical models – which was very much in the spirit of the inspiring comprehensive art concept of Friedrich Kiesler“. In autumn an installation of the new Kiesler Prize winner will certainly cause a stir in Vienna: The energy company “Verbund“ has bought Eliasson’s “Yellow Fog“, which had already enveloped the Jewish Museum in New York. Yellow fog will rise along the front of the “Verbund” headquarters in Vienna in October (once in the twilight and once at night). ■

Up to 2 July 2006, the “Vienna Days in Moscow” will be staged. At this festival Austria’s capital is presented comprehensively. The “Vienna Days” symbolise the good relations between the two large cities and are the counterpart of the “Moscow Days in Vienna” held in autumn 2005. Vienna presents itself with classical and contemporary art and as a competence centre, a hub in the centre of Europe as well as a place famous for its quality of life and enjoyable lifestyle. The Economic Chamber Austria in Vienna organised a workshop on the subject “Vienna’s Pro¬ducts“. The Vienna Boys’ Choir (who invited also 300 orphans from Moscow to a benefit concert), “Wiener Strauß Solisten” and other gave performances at the festival opening on 8 June 2006. Among the highlights of the “Vienna Days in Moscow” are Mozart opera films shown at the “WienMozart2006“ film festival, the exhibitions “UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Vienna“ and “Contemporary Art – Mauer Collection“ as well as a show with works of young artists of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. About 1,600 guests participated in a “Viennese ball” on 9 June 2006. Vienna did not only present itself in Moscow with culture but also as a centre of science and research with symposiums, seminars and workshops. The spotlight was on medicine (coronary diseases, cancer of the breast, surgery), biotechnology, psychoanalysis, telecom-munications, information and transport technology, waste management, water protection and the renaturation of lakes and rivers. ■

On 16 June 2006 between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Vienna’s Museum for Applied Arts (Museum für Angewandte Kunst/MAK) dedicates a “Long Night” to Sigmund Freud based on a concept by Reinhard Urbach. The room design is by Herbert Kapplmüller. Under the title “That’s us! Is it us?“, more than 80 personalities of public arenas, artists and scholars, read from texts, letters, satires, polemic texts and tributes, which have been written by, about, to and against the father of psychoanalysis in the past. As Secretary of State for Art and Media Franz Morak explained, the aim was “to discover how Freud has been seen throughout the past 150 years, in his work as a doctor, artist and writer before his displacement in 1938, as well as from the later perception in Austria and abroad to the iconography of the present, that turned Freud into a media figure”. Among the authors of the texts read (e.g. by actor Michael Heltau, architect and caricaturist Gustav Peichl alias “Ironimus“ and historian Gerald Stourzh) are some authored by Woody Allen, Thomas Mann as well as Vladimir Nabokov and Stefan Zweig. Alluding to the archetypal situation of therapist and patient, the audience will be seated on specially made chairs and sofas. After the “Long Night” the furniture will be sold. The net proceeds go to the House of (mentally ill) Artists in Gugging near Vienna. ■

While the anniversaries of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and Sigmund Freud have been commemorated for months, that of Anton Karas (1906-1985) has hardly been paid attention to. On 7 July 2006 the Heurigen (typical Viennese wine bar) musician from Vienna-Sievering would have celebrated his 100th birthday. In 1948 he had composed the music for the film classic “The Third Man” directed by Carol Reed and based on Graham Green’s novel, which was set in Vienna in the after-war period. The “Harry Lime theme” linked to a shady character played by Orson Welles is unforgettable. It was played by Anton Karas on the zither nervously, alarmingly and sweetly. Until 29 July 2006 the “Third Man Museum“ presents a series of events, e.g. the special exhibition “Half of the Truth: Karas Perfectly Cloned“. This title is also the name of a group of four artists presenting a bizarre and ironical performance about Karas. Apart from several details of the film, the Museum is dedicated to numerous artefacts from the musician’s life, such as the original film zither. Zithers – basically not special Heurigen instruments – were the preferred working tools of Anton Karas. At Carol Reed’s burial in England he played the “Harry Lime theme” as a funeral march. It was with a zither that Anton Karas was buried in the cemetery of Sievering in 1985. ■

In accordance with the Private Television Act 2001, the working community “Digital Platform Austria” had been set up to support the regulatory agency KommAustria in developing concepts for the digitalisation of broadcasting transmission channels. Based on the digitalisation concept of KommAustria published in 2003, digital antenna TV (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) will be introduced in Austria in late September 2006. DVB-T is an international standard for digital antenna TV. Image and sound signals are transformed into digital pulses and transmitted. After colour TV as well as cable and satellite broadcasting, the digitalisation of TV is another technological step into the future. By introducing DVB-T, Austria carries out a recommendation of the European Commission according to which the digital transmission technology is to replace analogue TV in all Member States of the European Union by 2012. On 7 June 2006 an international technical conference organised by Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR-GmbH) took place in Vienna in the framework of the EU project DICE (Digital Innovation through Cooperation in Europe), in which also Secretary of State for Art and Media Morak (who is responsible for Austria’s digitalisation activities launched in 2001), Jo Groebel of the German Digital Institute, Director of the Online Department of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) Ronald Schwärz¬ler and Christof Schoser of the European Commission participated. Morak emphasised that “every citizen – regardless of his/her income or place of living – had to be granted access to the services of the information society. Especially digital TV could “make a valuable contribution to overcome the so-called ‘digital divide’“. Digitalisation had to take place in unison in all states of Europe, notably with regard to the compatibility of digital additional services. The DICE project is co-financed by an EU programme and is dedicated to the knowledge transfer between the participating countries (Germany, Great Britain, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Hungary and Austria). Since the project kick-off in August 2004, several working groups and conferences explored the main aspects of the introduction of DVB-T. ■

A major part of the photos winning awards in the photo competition of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) titled “Innovative Motifs“ was presented to the public via an Internet platform. “To this end, the photo agency Buenos Dias has set up new archives for photos showing motifs related to research, technology and innovation from Austria. These archives will facilitate access to photos to illustrate text content on science, research and technology development in a better and more modern way”, stated Secretary of State for Research Eduard Mainoni. The most spectacular photos of research in Austria depicted extraordinary locations and situations, e.g. measuring at a height of 3000 metres on a glacier (Stubaier Gletscher in Tyrol) or maintenance work in the blower of the world’s largest climate-wind tunnel in Vienna. “Enterprises like Austrian Aerospace, BMW Steyr, Böhler Edelstahl, Fronius, Lenzing, MAGNA Steyr or OMV participated in this competition. In addition, the photographers explored university institutes and extramural research facilities like the Austrian Re¬search Centers to capture the wide spectrum of state-of-the-art research“. ■

Walter Koren, head of the Department for External Economic Relations of Austria (AWO) of the Economic Chamber Austria (WKÖ), presented together with Secretary of State for Art and Media a handbook of Austrian design history from 1900 to 2005 (“Handbuch der Öster¬reichischen Designgeschichte von 1900-2005“) at the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK). Koren pointed out that Austrian design was an important cultural and economic factor – a ”business card” of Austria presented all over the world. He also informed that 106 AWO representations around the world were promoting Austria’s fledgling design industry. Morak stated that that there had been a demand for such a publication for quite a while as the Austrian design sector required a documentation of its history, which had been lacking. The hadnbook covers a spectrum from furniture design of the early 20th century to contemporary industrial design. Moreover, it focuses on every-day culture in general and Austrian fashion design. Last but not least, it gives an insight into the sports product industry as the main provider of ideas for innovative Austrian design. ■

Together with Federal President Heinz Fischer, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel conferred different badges of honour for meritorious service to the Republic of Austria on all Austrian medal winners of the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympics of Turin 2006. “The Austrian athletes who have been so successful at this year’s Olympic Games do not only encourage us and set an example to us but even provide stimulus to an entire branch of industry. This year the income from winter tourism has exceeded that from summer tourism for the first time. Today sport has become the factor preserving wealth in Austria“, stressed the Federal Chancellor. In view of the successful results of Austria’s Olympic champions, he also described the event as a “day of joy” and thanked all those who had been involved and granted their support and thus making this success possible. “I would like to express my thanks and respect, especially to the participants in the Paralympics. By overcoming their barriers and achieving this tremendous success in sport, they provide encouragement and are a model to many others“, said Schüssel. Michaela Dorfmeister, who won two Olympic medals, and Sabine Gasteiger, winner of several medals in the Paralympics, thanked on behalf of the Olympic champions for the distinction and long-term support of the Republic of Austria, the Federal Army, the ÖSV and numerous sponsors. ■

Secretary of State for Sport Schweitzer and sports lawyer Christian Flick presented their views on the economic and legal situation of Austrian football: “Based on recent experience gained in issuing licences for several clubs of the Federal Football League and the often obscure financial management, we came to the conclusion that the professional licence departments of the football associations should be restructured to form a corporation”, said Schweitzer. The Republic of Austria supports the project “Challenge 2008” for the promotion of young talents with about 2.7 million euro provided by the federal sports promotion scheme in the period from 2003 to 2008. With about 62 million euro, it also finances the cost of building and expanding the stadiums for the European Football Championship 2008. In 2006 the Austrian Football Association (Österreich-ischer Fußballbund) has also been granted financial aid amounting to about 14 million euro as a basic subsidy from the Special Federal Sports Promotion Scheme and in accordance with § 10(1)(5b) of the Sports Promotion Act additional funds totalling 1.22 million euro earmarked for the promotion of young talents. ■

The new Austrian badges for swimming and lifesaving were presented by Secretary of State for Sport Karl Schweitzer and representatives of the Working Community of Austrian Water Lifesaving (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Österreich-isches Wasserrettungswesen). Schweitzer under-lined the importance of physical exercise in connection with the swimming sport. “It is highly important to teach swimming to all Austrians, especially children and young people, but it is a special task and challenge (mainly taken up by voluntaries) to be always at the service of all sports enthusiasts practising water sports in our lakes, rivers and public swimming pools. Our thanks go to all lifeguards”. These badges for merit in sport are granted under the Federal Sports Promotion Act and have been developed jointly with all member organisations and the federal ministries participating in the above working community based on state-of-the-art knowledge on the training of swimmers and lifeguards. The common goal is: “Every non-swimmer is a swimmer – every swimmer is a lifeguard“. ■