“One of the core elements of the numerous resolutions passed by the Council of Ministers today is the comprehensive reform of the electoral system”, explained Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer to journalists on 2 May 2007. In the framework of the reform, the voting age is reduced from 18 to 16 years at federal level and persons aged only 18 (previously 19) may stand as a candidate. Other measures envisaged are the introduction of postal voting and extending the legislative term from four to five years. Parliament is likely to adopt the reform package still before the summer break. The lowering of the voting age and the age for standing as a candidate means more codetermi-nation for young people. This gives them a say in legislative bodies and allows them to participate in lawmaking earlier, said Gusenbauer. The Federal Chancellor expects postal voting and facilitated voting for Austrians residing abroad to result in a higher voter turnout. By extending the legislative term to five years the federal system is harmonised with that of the Länder and communities. In general, the package was a “great step ahead in promoting democracy“, said Gusenbauer. ■

The social partners agreed on a new scheme to make working hours more flexible. The Presidents of the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ) and the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions (ÖGB), Christoph Leitl and Ru¬dolf Hundstorfer, presented the package jointly on 3 May 2007. The new system of more flexible working hours had already been outlined in the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the People’s Party (ÖVP). In the future maximum working hours of 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week are possible during a period of 24 weeks (previously 12 weeks). However, eight weeks of overtime have to be followed by two weeks with regular working hours. Moreover, standard working hours of 10 hours daily can be agreed on at company level or individually, e.g. in the case of a four-day week or a flexitime system. Previously, overtime regulations were subject to collective agreements. Another core element of the package are statutory supplements to the wages of part-time workers on overtime. Under specific conditions, part-time workers doing overtime are entitled to a supplement of 25%. Currently, there are about 720,000 part-time workers in Austria working approximately 200,000 hours of overtime. The bill has been submitted for review. The new law is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2008. The social partners described the model of more flexible working hours as a “win-win situation“ for employers and employees. The new scheme was also praised by the governing parties. ■

The focus of this year’s commemorative ceremony against violence and racism held in the Austrian Parliament on 4 May 2007 was on resistance against the National Socialist regime. Speaker of Parliament Barbara Prammer delivered a speech to honour the memory of the resistance fighters. Witnesses of the period launched an appeal to stay alert and former resistance fighters warned the youth against “seducers”. The ceremony in Parliament was opened by the Ensemble Klesmer Vienna with Jewish melodies. Besides the members of government led by Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer, numerous representatives of both chambers of Parliament and the leaders of the parliamentary groups of the five political parties were among the attendees. The event was held in commemoration of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp on 5 May 1945. ■

On Europe Day on 9 May 2007, Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer emphasised the importance of the European Union for Austria, highlighting the favourable effects on Austria’s economic growth. They expressed their hope that fresh impetus would soon be given to the European Constitution. ■

Federal President Heinz Fischer paid official visits to Cyprus and Greece from 11 to 15 May 2007. He was accompanied by his wife Margit. Fischer had praised the excellent bilateral relations with Cyprus and Greece already in the preliminaries of his trip. The key subjects discussed in both countries were the future European Constitution, EU enlargement, the development in Turkey, the situation in the Western Balkans and Kosovo as well as the Middle East conflict. Fischer met inter alia with President Tassos Papadopoulos in Nicosia. Regarding the conflict between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots about the reunification of the Mediterranean island, which has been divided for 33 years, Papadopoulos informed that the negotiations had come to a standstill. Visiting the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and the buffer zone between the Greek part and the Turkish northern part of the island, Fischer described the situation as “impossible”. “Especially in view of the fact that Cyprus is already a member of the EU and that Turkey is conducting negotiations with the EU, it must be possible to find a solution”, said Fischer. In Goshi the Federal President paid tribute to three Austrian UN soldiers who had been killed in a Turkish attack in August 1974. Fischer’s first stop in Greece on 13 May 2007 was Ioannia in the northwest, where he visited – together with his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias – Dodoni, besides Delphi the most famous oracle site in ancient Greece. The two heads of state held political talks in Athens on 14 May 2007. Fischer also met with Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis. The Mayor of Athens, Nikitas Kaklamanis, awarded Fischer the Golden Medal for Meritorious Service of the City of Athens. Fischer’s official journey to Greece was concluded on 15 May 2007 with a visit to the autonomous Monastic Republic of Athos. ■

Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer participated in the WDR Europe Forum in Berlin on 9 May 2007, attended by high-ranking officials. Besides Gusenbauer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German Vice-Chancellor Franz Müntefering, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski and Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa participated in the discussions under the motto “Re-thinking Europe“. On the eve of Europe Day on 9 May, one of the questions for debate was the general orientation of the EU in the age of globalisation. Gusenbauer emphasised that by signing the Constitution in 2004 the heads of state and government had committed themselves to “convincing the citizens that this was a meaningful path”. The Chancellor warned against renegotiating key passages of the text. With regard to globalisation, Gusenbauer pointed out that the EU was “not the product of globalisation but the response to globalisation“. On 10 May 2007 Gusenbauer conferred the media prize “Golden Feather” to Russian soprano and neo-Austrian Anna Netrebko. He held the laudatio at a ceremony in Hamburg (see Chapter Culture/Media/Science). ■

Her six-day visit (2 to 8 May 2006) to the Middle East took Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi-Arabia. The talks with the leading government representatives concentrated on the efforts to revive the Middle East peace process as well as on the crises in and around Iraq and Iran. Plassnik participated in the meeting of ministers of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh. ■

Croatian President Stipe Mesic paid a working visit to Vienna from 7 to 8 May 2007. On 8 May 2007 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico arrived for an official visit in the Austrian federal capital. Both statesmen met inter alia with Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. Items on the meeting agenda were economic relations, EU issues as well as the situation in Kosovo. ■

Austria has become more competitive. According to an international ranking of the renowned Lausanne-based Institute of Manage-ment Development (IMD), the Alpine Republic is now placed 11th, moving up two ranks from the prior-year level. The USA continue to top the IMD list, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Denmark. Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada are ranked before Austria placed 11th. In the study, which was conducted for the first time in 1989, a total of 55 countries and regions are analysed based on 323 criteria to determine their position in global competition. The “setting”, in which companies can operate in a country, is evaluated. The four criteria compared are economic conditions, economic and political efficiency as well as infrastructure. Ranked eleventh Austria has not only defended its position in the IMD ranking as one of the most competitive countries in the world but also surpassed its long-term average result. Since 2001 Austria held ranks 14 and 13, in 2005 it dropped to rank 17. The IMD identified several challenges Austria faces this year, e.g. the implementation of the ambitious climate protection programme, the speedy improvement of the energy infrastructure, the educational system, the continuing elimination of bureaucratic obstacles as well as measure to promote foreign trade against the background of a strong euro. The competitive-ness criteria “economic conditions” and “polit-ical efficiency” have improved in Austria. ■

After negotiations of several years, Austria has achieved a significant increase in the toll for lorries by about 4 cents per kilometre. In a joint press conference on 7 May 2007 Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Minister of Transport Werner Faymann described the agreement with the European Commission as a great success for Austria. Brussels had agreed to an average increase of the toll by 4.2 to 26.9 cents with effect 1 July 2007. The road fee increases progressively depending on the weight of the lorries. The toll for large lorries with a weight of up to 40 tons frequently used on transit routes will rise by 5.1 cents/km. Hence, the revenue from road fees for lorries of the Austrian motorway operator Asfinag will increase by 115 million per year. To ease the financial burden on carriers from the planned increase in tolls, the motor vehicle tax is cut by half for lorries. This tax relief granted to domestic carriers totals 75 million euros. ■

On 9 May 2007 the Austrian Länder were the first to have their structural aid programmes for the period 2007 to 2013 approved by the European Commission. Thus Austria will draw benefits totalling almost 655 million euros from Brussels to continue improving the competitiveness of its federal states. Burgenland is granted 125 million euros from the phased out scheme for former structurally weak objective-1 regions. The remaining Länder receive funds from the “regional competitiveness” programmes. The largest sums (155.1 and 145.6 million euros) go to Styria and Lower Austria. Upper Austria and Carinthia receive 95.5 and 67.3 million euros, respectively. Tyrol benefits from 34.8 million euros, Vorarlberg registers an inflow of 17.6 million euro, while 13.8 million euros are allocated to Salzburg. To obtain maximum structural aid funds from the EU coffers, Austria has to co-finance the individual projects and double the amount granted. Brussels expects the programmes to create new jobs and stimulate investments. ■

After investing in the Austrian building group Strabag, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska also acquires a stake in the international car components supplier Magna of Austro-Canadian Frank Stronach. As Magna informed on 10 May 2007, Deripaska’s group Basic Element will participate in Magna with 1.54 billion dollars (1.14 billion euros). The Magna group has officially confirmed its interest in taking over the US automotive group Chrysler. ■

On 9 May 2007 Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer participated in Berlin in the WDR Europe Forum (see Europe/International). On the same day soprano Anna Netrebko sang the title role of Jules Massenet’s “Manon“ with her favourite colleague Rolando Villazón at the Berlin State Opera (Staatsoper Unter den Linden). Her performance went straight to the hearts of the audience. Daniel Barenboim, General Music Director of the opera house, conducted Staatskapelle Berlin. One day later, on 10 May 2007, the Austrian Chancellor conferred the media award “Golden Feather 2007” of the Bauer publishing group on the diva at a gala in Hamburg’s Deichtorhallen. This award is granted to personalities achieving a lasting success in and with the media. 400 guests from the media industry, the political and economic arenas attended the ceremony. In his laudatio to the Russian, who also became an Austrian citizen in 2006, the Chancellor acknowledged the achievements of the naturalised artist in “popular education” by giving some examples. “Some months ago the renowned ‘Time Magazine’ listed Anna Netrebko among the 100 most influential personalities of the world. She distinguishes herself for her artistic uniqueness, is a queen of the international opera stage crowned by the audience. Her career also shows that classical music is not necessarily the minority programme of an elitist culture. If performed to perfection, it is still part of European popular culture. Listening to her voice, one can understand that there is no real difference between so-called “serious” and “entertainment” music but that this is only an artificial distinction. Gusenbauer told the daily “Österreich“ that Austria benefited greatly from Anna Netrebko’s role as a “cultural ambassador” and that he hoped that her outstanding achievements would encourage more people to go to the opera. ■

German director Peter Stein (who will celebrate his 70th birthday in October) produced Friedrich Schiller’s “Wallenstein” trilogy in an industrial plant in Berlin. It will be presented in 10-hour performances on weekends starting on 19 May 2007. The actors will perform during 20 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. 3,500 m2 are used as a stage, 6,000 sources of light help to create the atmosphere. The most expensive theatre production of the year costs about 4.5 million euros. Wallenstein is enacted by Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (63), who starred in films like “Mephisto“, and “Out of Africa“. Other actors participating in the Schiller drama are Peter Fitz, Elke Petri, Jürgen Holtz, Roman Kaminski and Elisabeth Rath. “Wallenstein“ will be performed in the former brewery in Berlin-Neukölln until 7 October 2007. ■

Kurt Weill’s operetta “A Kingdom for a Cow“ represents a masterly amalgam of opera, jazz, Broadway sound and fandango. It can now be enjoyed at Volksoper in Vienna until 20 June 2007. Bregenz Festival director David Pountney revised and revamped his production created for Kornmarkt Theatre about three years ago. The themes of the black comedy composed in 1934 are corruption, secret bank accounts, corrupt civil servants and illegal arms trade. On an imaginary Caribbean island the love of Juan and Juanita threatens to be destroyed by the hos-tilities between two banana republics. For their only basis of existence, a cow, is repeatedly con-fiscated as payment of the countless new taxes introduced by the President to finance arms. Affinities with the present are intentional – not only by mentioning the “Eurofighter” military jets and golfing. But there is a happy end just like in Weill’s “The Threepenny Opera“: The arms supplied do not work. (Political observers consider this a common reason for backing out). The delightful music, the colourful and exciting production with fanciful costumes by Duncan Hayler and a choreography by Craig Revel Horwood was enthusiastically acclaimed by the audience and the critics. The singers, e.g. putsch general Conchaz alias Rolf Haunstein, US lobbyist Jones alias Michael Kraus, the touching lovers Juan und Juanita, Dietmar Kerschbaum and Ursula Pfitzner, deliver an electrifying performance. ■

On 25 May 2007 Museum Centre Mistelbach (MZM), representing a new concept of regional museum, will be opened in Mistelbach on the river Zaya in Lower Austria close to the Czech and Slovak borders by Governor Erwin Pröll. The Museum Centre is inaugurated with a first presentation of many major works by Hermann Nitsch, a great radical in contemporary art, on an exhibition surface of 2,600 m2. In the so far greatest solo exhibition in Austria the artist’s “Gesamtkunstwerk” is presented. The work of Nitsch, who lives in the Weinviertel region, echoes this ascetic but at the same time voluptuous landscape and simple life. Nitsch revolutionised the international art world with his “orgy and mystery theatre”, he is one of the great late masters of “action painting” (“Actionism” is the Austrian version of the happening) and his series of splatter paintings, music, “action theatre” with complex theories on the development of the tragedy were pioneering. After the first two-month presentation, this Museum will continue to be the venue for his art that has progressed from basic excesses to the poetry of the country and from the mystery of existence to Dionysian feasts of life and light. Christian Resch, Mayor of the city of Mistelbach, came up with the idea of devoting a museum to Nitsch in his native Weinviertel, a region in Lower Austria. Wolfgang Denk, ´the founding director of the Museum, and the architects Johannes Kraus and Michael Lawugger of archipel architektur + kommunikation from Vienna, were entrusted with developing the overall concept and planning. At the opening ceremony insights into the oeuvre of Nitsch were provided inter alia by art historian Wieland Schmied. The Museum Centre Mistelbach (MZM) will show the permanent exhibition “Weinviertel – Living Environment“ from October onwards. In spring 2008 international sacramental wine archives will be established within the MZM. ■

On 23 April 2007 the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the great Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba (1907-1975) was celebrated. To mark this occasion, Kunsthaus Zug (Switzerland) pays homage to the artist with the exhibition “Sculpture without Properties“ (ending on 19 August 2007). The show focuses on the creation and intellectual environment of his work. The Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich will commemorate Wotruba in the exhibition “Drawings and Stones” from 27 September to 25 November 2007. The Salzburg branch of the American Austrian Foundation in Arenberg Palace currently shows sketches of Wotruba’s stage sets for Sophocles’ “King Oedipus“ at the Salzburg Festival in 1965. His less known early work is showcased at Upper Belvedere in Vienna up to 23 July 2007: “Fritz Wotruba. Simplicity and Harmony. The early works 1928-1949“ aims at bridging the gap to his main body of work. The artistic development is illustrated from the first works in the 1920s to the “Sitting Woman“ (1949). The exhibits comprise 15 stone sculptures, 10 bronze objects, plaster and clay models as well as 40 drawings and water colours. The sculptor derived his artistic identity from his reception of Michelangelo in the beginning and of German expressionism at a later stage, culminating in his avant-garde sculpture “Standing Man“ (1929/30). Wotruba’s estate comprises about 400 sculp-tures, 2,500 drawings and 1,500 prints. ■

In his provocative book “Is Jazz Dead? (Or has it moved to a new address)“ (2005) British music critic Stuart Nicholson described that American jazz musicians have been lacking innovative power since 1990, while many important artists were emerging in Europe, especially in Scandinavia. One of them was Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen (born in 1970). In fact, an enthusiastic audience could experience the unique and melancholic “Nordic sound” of the pianist and his co-musicians – Harald Johnsen (bass) and Jarle Vespestad (percussion) – in the crowded jazz club “Porgy & Bess“ in Vienna on 8 May 2007. His often ballade-like compositions are reminiscent of the “Lyric Pieces” of his compatriot Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). They also show influences of the trio pieces of Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson (1931-1968) admired by him, with a style repertoire from dreamy folk songs to funk. Yet the discreet charm of his compositions is unique and won him an international reputation in recent years. ■

The Viennese Ethnological Collection dating back to Emperor Francis I. was accommodated in Neue Burg, the most recent annex to the Hofburg complex situated on Ringstrasse directly opposite the Museum of Art History, in 1928. The exhibition halls have been restructured and restored since 2004. In some revamped rooms the so far most comprehensive exhibition on the theme “Benin – Kings and Rituals. Court Arts from Nigeria“ is presented on about 1,400 m2 up to 3 September 2007. This show – designed in cooperation of the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments Nigeria, the Ethnological Museum of the Berlin State Museums, the Musée du quai Branly in Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago – gives an overview of the art and culture of the Kingdom Benin with more than 300 exhibits from the 13th to 19th century. It documents the collapse of the kingdom, its reconstitution in the 20th century as well as its continued existence into the 21st century. The antique bronze sculptures and ivory carvings from the western African kingdom belong to Africa’s most valuable art works. The bronze works for example are of an outstanding quality and were compared to the works of Renaissance artist Benvenuto Cellini, who was active in Italy in the same period. The rich illustrations on the individual objects do not only document the sumptuous court ceremonies and heroic deeds of the worriers but also highlight the historic significance of Benin, which became one of the mightiest kingdoms in western Africa in modern times. ■

The Leopold Museum at Vienna’s Museumsquartier shows a rare and superb exhibition (up to 27 August 2008). It is devoted to a “pioneer of abstraction” as the subtitle reads, who has become known to a larger audience only in the recent past: Adolf Hölzel. The painter and art historian is one of the most important forerunners of modern painting. After studying at the Vienna Academy, he went to Munich, where he taught Emil Nolde and met the impressionist painter Fritz von Uhde. Together with Ludwig Dill and Arthur Langhammer, he founded the artists’ colony “Neu-Dachau“, which became known for its crude, stylised landscape paintings. In 1905 he was appointed to a professorship at the State Academy of Visual Arts in Stuttgart, where he was to shape an entire generation of young artists, e.g. his disciples Willi Baumeister and Johannes Itten. His colour studies based on Goethe’s theory of colours led him to develop a style composed of coloured spaces. Among his best known works is “Composition in Red“ (1905, Sprengel Museum Hannover), which was created four years before Wassily Kandinsky’s first abstract painting. These trendsetting abstract inventions are displayed in the comprehensive exhibition on Hölzel’s body of work at Leopold Museum. ■

From 16 May to 18 November 2007 the Jewish Museum Vienna (JMW) presents the exhibition “Best of All Women. The Female Dimension in Judaism“ exploring the role of the Jewish woman in religious, economic, social and cultural contexts. The show demonstrates how female and male perspectives often lead to completely different perceptions of historical events. The “parochet” in whose story the exhibition title is inspired will also be displayed. Zwi Hirsch Todesco had donated the Thora curtain to the City Temple in Vienna when his daughter Nina married in 1833. In his dedication he praised his wife Fanny as the “best of all women”. The acquisition and restoration of the parochet had been supported by the insurance company UNIQA. In its branch on Judenplatz the Jewish Museum Vienna presents a “Tribute to Paul Goldman. Photographs 1943-1965“. This exhibition turns the spotlight on outstanding press photos, showing for example the arrival of Holocaust survivors in Palestine and everyday life in Israel at that time. ■

On “Europe Day” on 9 May 2007 Secretary of State for Sport Reinhold Lopatka stressed that the EU Constitution also offered an opportunity to develop a European dimension of sport that reflects the importance of sport in terms of economic and health policies. According to the Draft Constitution, sport will be enshrined in the European legal system at constitutional level. Article III-282 of the Draft Constitution lays down the “development of the European dimension of sport” by “cooperation between the organisations responsible for sport” as well as the “protection of the physical and mental integrity of the athletes”. If the EU really wants to get closer to the citizens, it has to pay adequate attention to sport. The adoption of the EU Constitution would be a vital step” said Lopatka. ■

The important and special role of sport has to be taken into account in preparing the “White Paper on Sport” by the European Commission. Secretary of State for Sport Lopatka supports the proposal of British Sports Minister Richard Caborn in the discussion about limiting the number of foreign football players in the domestic leagues. To promote young domestic talents and the competitiveness of European football clubs, Caborn’s proposal provides for specific rules for sport, limiting the freedom of movement and thus the number of foreign football players. ■

400 days before EURO 2008 takes place in Austria and Switzerland, UEFA gave the green light for the greatest European football party by adopting public viewing guidelines. The simple and transparent decision that for screening the games of the European Football World Championship no UEFA licences are required for screen sizes up to three metres diagonally allows private persons as well as restaurant owners to present the 31 games to large audiences. Those asking for admission fees have to pay six euros per square metre and game. Strict provisions are in place for involving non-UEFA EURO 2008 sponsors. Licence applicants can register and inform themselves about details of the guidelines on the Internet already in summer 2007. A special regulation was adopted for public viewing events in the official fan zones of the host cities. In general, public viewing is very welcome. According to a poll by Infoscreen OGM, 81 percent of the Austrians consider it a good idea to screen the games live in public space. ■

The security concept jointly developed with Switzerland for EURO 2008, which is based on the experience of the world championship 2006 in Germany provides also for de-escalation and socially preventive measures, is one of the core elements of cooperation. As far as security issues are concerned, Austria considers Switzerland a model. In Switzerland there is for example a registration requirement if the prohibition to enter a specific district was violated or when a hooligan is expected not to refrain from violence at sports events. The registration requirement makes it possible to request officially known hooligans to appear at police stations and to “remove” them at an early stage. Persons not meeting the registration requirement and not complying with official procedures have to be arrested and detained until the situation cools down. The introduction of a registration requirement aiming at maximum security in and around football stadiums, is being examined in Austria. ■