The parliamentary elections 2006 will be held on 1 October 2006. The four political parties represented in the first chamber of the Austrian Parliament (Nationalrat) adopted a unanimous resolution on 14 July 2006 to close the XXII legislative period. The election will take place almost two months before the end of this period The previous election had been held on 24 November 2002.
After the first chamber of Parliament passed a resolution to dissolve, the federal government and the Parliament’s Main Committee are required to adopt resolutions. The latter will approve the ordinance laying down the election day and the reference day (probably August 1st) submitted by the federal government on 27 July 2006. By publishing the ordinance in the Federal Law Gazette, the election date is fixed. The election reference date is mainly relevant to all candidates or groups whose nominations have not been signed by three Members of Parliament. Qualified voters can sign the nomination papers at the municipal offices only from this day onwards (a total of 2600 signatures is required).
About six million Austrians are eligible to vote. 183 seats in Parliament are distributed. The ÖVP and BZÖ/FPÖ currently hold 79 and 18 seats, respectively. SPÖ and the Greens have 69 and 17 seats, respectively.
The following parties and their frontrunners will take part in the electoral race 2006:
Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) – Wolfgang Schüssel; Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) – Alfred Gusenbauer; Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) – Peter Westenthaler; Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) – Heinz Christian Strache; the Green Party (Greens) – Alexander Van der Bellen; Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ) – Mirko Messner. ■

The resolution to dissolve Parliament had been preceded by debates about the early closing of the legislative period in the last plenary session on 14 July 2006. Chancellor and ÖVP Federal Party Chairman Wolfgang Schüssel presented a first review of the federal government’s achievements and reported about the past Austrian EU Presidency. He explained that this legislative period was terminated prematurely because more than 100 projects of the coalition agreement had been realised. The pending reform of the Constitution and the Federal Staff Act would form part of the government plan in the next legislative period. The outgoing government had a “terrific success record”.
Some of the most successful government projects mentioned by the Federal Chancellor were the “most far-reaching tax reform of the Second Republic“, the pension re¬form, the reduction of military and alternative civilian service, the model project ‘E-Card’ (electronic social insurance card), measures promoting education and research as well as energy and environmental projects, such as the introduction of diesel particle filters.
“We are the third-best country in meeting all EU structural indicators; in e-government we are even number one; and in a global competitiveness comparison we take place three“, stated Schüssel. Today Austria’s position was excellent, and there was a solid basis for making a good policy. “We have accomplished a lot and worked well.“ In this context, the Chancellor highlighted the progress made in reconciling working and family lives based on the government’s motto “what creates jobs is social”. There were about 124,000 new jobs and the number of all-day childcare facilities rose from 40,000 to 70,000. “We also want to be the country of lived solidarity“, stressed Schüssel. ■

Europe needs additional stimuli to boost energy efficiency and to take more regulatory measures in environmental policy. This was a “key to future wealth“, said Environment Minister Josef Pröll at the informal meeting of EU environment ministers in Ruku (Finland) on 15 July 2006. “We will further develop Austria’s leading position in environmental technology by in-creasing the use of renewable energies from biomass, solar energy, water power and wind energy“, said Pröll. Already now renewable energy accounted for two thirds of the domestic total energy production. This made Austria the “EU leader” in this field. ■

Irish President Mary McAleese arrived in Austria on 17 July 2006 for a four-day state visit. The key subjects discussed with Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer were the current situation in the Middle East as well as politics in Iran and Iraq.
In a joint press conference (18 July 2006) Fischer stressed the “uncontested right of each country, including Israel, to defend itself against attacks”. But he added that the “acts of defence had to be in proportion to what one defended oneself against“. The Federal President highlighted the “right and maybe even the duty” to urge to refrain from disproportionate measures entailing a disproportionate number of civilian victims. The proposal of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to make a contribution to de-escalating the conflict and saving human lives with UN peace-keeping troops had to be examined thoroughly and seriously, said Fischer.
Irish President McAleese expressed her hope that those affected would now listen to the voices “advocating reason, calmness and proportionality“.
On 19 July 2006 Fischer and McAleese participated in the opening of the Bregenz Festival (see Culture). ■

For the first time since the end of the Kosovo war the heads of state and government from Belgrade and Pristina participated in negotiations chaired by the UN in Vienna on 24 July 2006 on the future status of the south Serbian province Kosovo. The opening of the Kosovo summit in Vienna took place in the presence of Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. ■

At an informal working meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Florence on 13 July 2006, Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer described the European Draft Constitution as a “good compromise”, in which “Italy has cooperated as proactively as Austria“. Endeavours would be made to bring this project to a successful conclusion based on a common European effort. Fischer stressed that the aim of the future EU Constitution was not to replace national Constitutions but to provide a modern and efficient foundation close to the citizen for governing European affairs.
With regard to South Tyrol, the Austrian Federal President stated that minority issues in this region were “regulated, negotiated and settled in an exemplary way“. ■

Austria was the first foreign country to which Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány paid an official visit (11 July 2006) after his re-election as head of government. Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel described the visit as a “sign of the friendship between our countries“. Austria and Hungary had close ties based on numerous common projects (Regional Partnership, Danube summit). Integration of the entire Danube area into the European Union was likely to be completed in January 2007. This was “a great opportunity for core countries like Hungary and Austria“, said Schüssel. Gyucsány also praised the very good bilateral relations. “Austria and Hungary have the common task of promoting stability, understanding and economic prosperity in the Danube area”, stressed Gyurcsány. ■

New Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis met with Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik in Vienna on 21 July 2006. Besides bilateral and EU issues, they discussed the escalating situation in the Middle East. Plassnik informed reporters that the European Union was “everything but inactive” in the Lebanon crisis. In a joint EU appeal the “radical forces” in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon had been called upon to stop their attacks on Israel immediately. Israel had also been requested to “return to proportionality”, said Plassnik. Moreover, the European Commission provided additional financial support for humanitarian aid. ■

“The Austrian economy is in full swing and the trend reversal in the labour market is underway“, Minister for Economics and Labour Martin Bartenstein was pleased to inform at a press conference in Vienna on 20 July 2006. Austria boasted “record employment”. For the first time in three years the number of jobless dropped below 200,000 in June. According to the Minister, the outlook for July was also bright.
In late June the unemployment rate decreased by 7.1% year-on-year to 196,000. This trend reversal in the labour market was partly due to stronger growth and partly to the federal government’s labourforce qualification pro-gramme. The declared aim continued to be full employment, i.e. an unemployment rate below 4%, underlined Bartenstein. Austria currently registered record employment. In June the number of dependent workers grew by about 50,000 to 3.3 million compared to last year.
The qualification programme had been “very effective”, explained the Minister for Labour. 285 million euro have been earmarked for training more than 60,000 additional persons in 2006/07. This will help them to improve their qualifications and their labour market opportunities. The programme comprises labour market re-integration grants, training courses for young people, for unemployed people aged 50 plus and long-term jobless as well as a “combined wage model”. About 1 billion euro had been made available for active labour market policy, said Bartenstein. 204,000 people would benefit from this amount in 2006. ■

The Labour Market Service (AMS) reported a new job placement record. A total of 305,884 job-seekers had found a new job during the first half of 2006 with the support of AMS. This were 12,900 persons or 4.4% more than in the same period of the prior year, explained AMS chief Johannes Kopf on 14 July 2006.
The largest increase of positions filled through placement services was recorded in the services sector. This was due to intensified customer support, expanded job offers and the new “services zones”, stated Kopf. ■

Based on preliminary data of the Austrian Statistical Office (Statistik Austria), the Austrian economy grew by 2% in 2005, which is clearly above the 1.8% expected by the forecasting bodies. This information was provided by the Austrian Statistical Office on 14 July 2006.
In 2005 the gross domestic product (GDP) increased at current prices by 9.3 billion euro or 3.9% to about 245.1 billion euro. With 29,770 euro, the per-capita GDP was 3.2% above the prior-year figure. The gross national income (GNI) rose by 9.6 billion euro (+4.1 %).
The average growth of the EU-15 was 1.5% in 2005, that of the EU-25 (after enlargement in 2004) stood at 1.6% based on Eurostat data of July. The OECD countries registered once more a significantly higher average growth rate (2.7%). ■

Together with its parent company Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB), the listed Raiffeisen International (RI) submitted a binding bid for a majority take-over of the large Romanian savings bank CEC on 17 July 2006. ■

“With 119.2 million hotel nights, 29.3 million guests and a turnover of 19 billion euro, the year 2005 was a successful year for tourism”, said Minister for Economics Martin Bartenstein on 13 July 2006 after the presentation of the Report on Tourism 2005 in the Council of Ministers. Compared to 2004, hotel nights increased by 1.7% and the number of guests by 3.1%. Sales climbed by 3.8%.
Bartenstein drew attention to the great economic importance of tourism for Austria. The contribution of tourism to the GDP was 8.8%. Tourism and the leisure industry accounted together for 16.3% of the GDP.
According to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the number of global tourist arrivals surged by 5.5% last year. The average growth forecast for Europe was 4.6%. ■

On 19 July 2006 Federal President Heinz Fischer opened the 61st Bregenz Festival (running until 20 August 2006) in the completely renovated festival hall. The artistic highlight of the opening night was the orchestra concert of the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra with works by Haydn and Mozart. “Werkstattbühne” is the venue for the orchestral cycle “Spiegel“ by Friedrich Cerha marking the composer’s 80th birthday. Since 20 July 2006 the Floating Stage has been presenting a revival of Verdi’s “The Troubadour“ (attracting more than 170,000 visitors in 2005).
Among the guests of the impressive opening ceremony were Irish President Mary McAleese, Liech¬tenstein's head of government Otmar Hasler, Vice-Chancellor Hubert Gorbach and other members of the federal government and the regional governments of Vorarlberg and Tyrol.
The Austrian President praised the revamped festival hall as “the most beautiful gift for the 60th anniversary” of the festival. It was a “shining example of Austrian art and culture“. He hailed the fact that the festival programme featured many contemporary authors and composers as “a signal that we are increasingly focusing on young art. It conveys many messages and we can learn from its positions“.
Secretary of State for Art and Media Franz Morak and Festival President Günter Rhomberg were also enthusiastic about the festival’s anniversary and the fine renovation. Morak described himself as “an admirer of the Bregenz Festival” and praised it as “a cultural lighthouse towering over Lake Constance”. The opening statement was made by Arno Geiger, an author from Vorarlberg, who has won the German Book Prize 2006 (“Es geht uns gut“). Having done odd jobs for the festival for many years, he “confessed his love for the lake stage” but also criticised phenomena of the beautiful people.
The festival presents three works by Debussy – “The Fall of the House of Usher“, “Jeux“ and “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune“ (starting on August 7th). This year Korn¬markt theatre shows Offenbach’s “Bluebeard“ (begin: August 10th). Martinsplatz theatre is under the impression of Mozart. Peter Turrini’s “Der tollste Tag“ (“The Maddest Day”) inspired in Beaumarchais’ Fi¬garo will be premiered on 25 July 2006. ■

“The exhibition ‘Sculptural Architecture in Austria’ is held under the motto ‘reflections on architecture’ and traces the developments in a discipline in which Austria has set new standards. It addresses the various interpretations of the concept ‘architecture’ throughout the centuries, its logic and consequences”, stated Secretary for the Art and Media Morak at the presentation of the exhibition together with architect and university professor Hans Hollein, who is the curator of the show, and Chinese Embassy Counsellor Jianquan Liang. Since 2001 this is the second time Morak has succeeded in realising a large-scale Austrian exhibition in the field of architecture in China. The show will be presented at the National Art Mu¬seum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing from 8 to 23 August 2006 and at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou from 14 to 23 November 2006. It is organised in the framework of the continuous cultural exchange between China and Austria.
In his presentation curator Hollein concentrated on Austria’s contemporary architecture. “Austrian architects play an important role in today’s global development of a sculptural form of expression, the free three-dimensionality in the architecture of space“, underlined Hollein. The phenomenon of “sculptural architecture“ is explored from different perspectives in the show. It has been manifest in medieval Gothic, Baroque, early modernism as well as leading contemporary architecture. The buildings, projects and visions realised by more than 50 architects and teams are illustrated with photos, drawings, projects and more than 40 models. One section of the exhibition is dedicated to a special branch of architecture in which many architects of the young generation create their first works: the single-family house. In addition, the three studios of the Institute of Architecture of the University of Applied Arts – headed by Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Wolf D. Prix – have designed special models and drawings for the exhibition. Examples of contemporary architecture created by Austrians can also be found in China, such as Baumschlager Eberle with the Apartment Towers Moma, PopMoma and Shangdi MOMA in Beijing.
Martha Schreieck conceived the homage to architect Roland Rainer, who published the book “Die Welt als Garten: China“ after his trip to China in 1972. Buildings created by international architects in Austria are also presented, e.g. Zaha Hadid’s jump hill construction on the Isel mountain or projects of Dominique Perrault and Jean Nouvel.
The representative of the Chinese embassy in Austria, Embassy Counsellor Liang, emphasised that this was the moment to present the exhibition as China was very open to new fields like architecture and was undergoing a radical transformation. The interest in Austrian architecture was great, and the fact that the exhibition was now mounted in China marked an important stage in the cultural relations between China and Austria. ■

At the film festival held in Locarno from 2 to 12 August 2006 a contribution from Austria will compete for the Golden Leopard: “Gefangene“ by Iain Dilthey. The film, a German-Austrian co-production, tells the story of a girl who looks from her flat on a prison. The flirt with a prisoner becomes a dramatic reality after his escape. ■

Austrian writer Fred Wander, who had suffered from a severe disease, died aged 89 in his apartment in Vienna on 10 July 2006. Wander was born to poor Jewish parents in Vienna in 1917. After the National Socialists seized power – his parents and his sister were killed in concentration camps – he tried to escape to Switzerland. However, there the authorities handed him over to the police of the French Vichy regime. Having gone through a terrible ordeal, he was finally deported to the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. After the end of the Nazi dictatorship, Wander moved to the GDR, without becoming its citizen. He discovered his vocation in a literature course in Leipzig. Together with his wife Maxie (Elfriede Brunner), he earned a reputation as a dramatist, narrative writer, author of youth books and feature writer. After the death of his wife he suffered from a serious crisis. He returned to Vienna in 1983, where he led a very secluded life – held in high esteem by a great number of his writing colleagues. Among his excellent works are the short story “The Seventh Well“ (1971), based on his survival in Ausch¬witz and Buchenwald, the novel “Hotel Baalbek“ (1991) and the autobiography “The Good Life“ (1996), whose last sentence reads: “I’m on the road, my pack is light”. Only a few days before his death, Fred Wander had been informed that he was awarded the Prize of the City of Vienna for his literary work. ■

Folk-play actor Toni Böhm, born in Salzburg in 1949, died suddenly in Reichenau (Lower Austria) in the night of 13 July 2006. At the local festival he brilliantly played a quaint character in Stefan Zweig’s “Im Rausch der Verwandlung“. His death was discovered only shortly before the performance.
Böhm’s illustrious and eventful career led him from Schauspielhaus in Vienna headed by Hans Gratzer to Vienna Volkstheater, where he developed into an exemplary actor of Nestroy plays. But he also gave convincing performances in contemporary works authored for example by Elfriede Jelinek and Thomas Bernhard, in the stage version of Sandor Marai’s “Embers” or “New York New York“ by Marlene Streeruwitz. He was awarded the Karl Skraup Prize twice, in 1994 and 2005. His last appearance at Theater an der Josefstadt was in Max Frisch’s “Andorra“. The director of Volkstheater, Michael Schottenberg, was deeply affected by the death of Böhm: “For decades he has been the actor leaving the most distinguishing mark on Volkstheater”. ■

The film industry has an increasing demand for professionally trained film actors. Vienna’s “1st Film Academy“ wants to fill this gap in the market by offering for the first time the two-year study course “training of film and TV actors” from September onwards.
A maximum of 28 participants will be trained in all aspects of working before the camera during four terms. Before the start of the first term a casting will be held in Vienna on 9 and 10 September 2006. The Academy is a non-profit association. Experienced film directors such as Ulrich Seidl (“Dog Days“) and Harald Sicheritz (“Hinterholz 8“), the inventor of the TV series “Kommissar Rex“ Peter Hajek as well as Veit Heiduschka, producer of Austria’s most prominent film director, Cannes prize winner Michael Haneke (“The Piano Teacher“) will teach at the Film Academy. ■

By setting up the Austrian Music Fund in 2005, Secretary of State for Art and Media Franz Morak laid the foundation for a professional Austrian music market. The Music Fund has been conceived as a measure to promote Austrian music productions. The aim is to enhance the exploitation and distribution of music productions and to strengthen Austria’s position as a creative industry location. The Music Fund is open to all music-creating originators, singers, music producers, music publishers and labels. It is financed by the Federal Chancellery and renowned institutions of Austria’s musical life with a total of 600,000 euro annually. As Morak stated in an interview with the magazine for the Austrian music and media sector “Sound & Media“, the Music Fund had met with widespread acceptance after one year. “The fact that about 500 project proposals had been submitted shows that there is a great demand for such an institution, and the output of more than 70 project subsidies is remarkable“. Morak expressed his wish that Austrian pop music should become part of “the domestic media scene. The Music Fund provides impetus to the different players but also forces them to act – creators as well as producers, marketing experts and the media“. Interest in the new Austrian body managing subsidies has been shown also abroad. Morak wants to continue investing in the music business and to “advocate that professional structures should be established in Austria“. Ultimately, “the Fund could only act as a facilitator but the artists, their producers and managers must, however, stand on their own feet”. Georg Tomandl, sound studio owner, board member of the Audiovisual and Film Industry Association of the Economic Chamber Austria and Chairman of the Austrian Music Fund, stated that the Music Fund had succeeded in presenting numerous young Austrian bands and artists to the public. Now the labels had to support those selected on a long-term basis. Among the productions published and financed by the Music Fund are the vocalists Bauchklang (“Many People“), the ethno-pop group Fatima Spar und die Freedom Fries (“Zirzop“), Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Nova (“Trias Musiktheater“), Neuwirth Extremschrammeln (“Wien g’spürn“) and the heavy metal band Stahlhammer (“Opera Noir“). ■

Only 36 years old, Dominique Perrault became the winner of one of the most important architecture competitions in 1989. He made his international breakthrough with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, which was completed in 1995 as one of the “grand travaux“ in the era of François Mitterrand. Perrault has also made important contributions to contemporary architecture in Austria. The town hall of Innsbruck as well as three Mpreis supermarkets in Wattens and Zirl were designed by him. A sophisticated project, that is still in the planning stage, will be realised on a surface of 110,000 m2 in Vienna’s new “Danube City” district in 2007: Vienna DC Towers 1 and 2. The two towers of a height of 220 and 160 metres with shiny fronts boasting a spiral design will form a dramatic “gate” to Danube City by 2009. In “Architecture Meta-Buil¬dings“ (ending on 23 October 2006) the Vienna Architecture Centre presents the architect’s latest sensational projects, e.g. the University Campus Center in Seoul, the annex to Marinsky theatre in St. Petersburg and the Olympic tennis stadium in Madrid. For Perrault architecture is the discovery of slowness, “an art of the arrière-garde“. According to him, meta-buildings are “building going beyond the dimensions of usual buildings in terms of size and conception to the benefit of the landscape. A meta-building transforms a place into a different one and is connected to the surrounding site. Moreover, a meta-building is not just a building but forms part of an urban substance“. ■

“More than half of the Austrians (60 percent) practice hardly any or no sport at all.“ “Physically active people are healthy people.“ “Healthy people help to reduce the strain on the health system.“ These trivial findings are known to most of us and are confirmed in a growing number of studies highlighting the medical and economic effectiveness of sport. Now they have to be put into practice in the Austrian health system.

“In the current political discussion about the financial sustainability of the health system, attention is increasingly focused on physical exercise and sport due to their potential cost-cutting effects”, stressed Schweitzer. The Institute for Advanced Studies estimates that if all gainfully employed people were reached by company health promotion programmes and implemented tailored recommendations developed for them, this would result in cost-cutting effects for the national economy of up to 3.64 billion euro. This figure corresponds to 1.7 percent of the gross domestic product! Another noteworthy fact is that the Austrian national economy benefits even from the current level of sport practised by the population with a net balance of 263.7 million euro per year (after deducting the socio-economic costs of sports accidents).

“But in realising the preventive potential of physical exercise and sport for the health sector we are only at the very beginning”, stated Secretary of State Schweitzer. Early detection, promoting and strengthening health as well as preventive measures only account for a very small share in the health insurance expenditure. Hence, there is a huge savings potential in this area. In a comparison of the individual expenditure items of the health insurance, prevention (early detection, promoting and strengthening health as well as other preventive measures) accounts for only 1.2%, i.e. about 145 million euro.

“We should discuss the possibility of including preventive sport programmes in the range of services of the statutory health insurance institutions as soon as possible, stated Schweitzer. The favourable medical and economic aspects and effects of preventive sport programmes are undisputed. The aim is to reduce the financial burden on the health system. According to recent WHO studies, physical activity considerably reduces the risk of early health problems – and consequently the need for surgery. 95,000 heart bypass operations out of 100,000 performed on people in the prime of life would become unnecessary if cycling was (re-) integrated into every-day life.

“If health-promoting potentials, such as physical activity and sport, are fully realised, a crucial long-term contribution is made to relieving the strain on the health system“, emphasised Schweitzer. The exercise programmes of the sports federations ASKÖ, ASVÖ and SPORTUNION were awarded the quality seal “Fit for Austria“ and concentrate on a practice-oriented offers, the development of a sustainable and individual health competence as well as joyful access to physical activity in all phases of life. ■