The great EU-US summit was held in Vienna on 21 June 2006 under tightest security and in a markedly friendly atmosphere. The top foreign policy issues discussed at Hofburg were the nuclear conflict with Iran, the situation in Iraq and the US prison camp Guantánamo Bay on Cuba, which has come in for harsh criticism in Europe. Observers reported about a major approximation between the European Union and the USA.
US President George W. Bush, who was accompanied to Vienna by his wife Barbara and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, showed himself responsive to the needs and concerns of the EU Member States. His message focused on reaching agreements with the European partners and on transatlantic cooperation in international affairs. In the final press conference jointly held with President in office of the EU Council Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Bush expressed his intention to close Guantánamo and to send most of the detainees back to their home countries. Some of the terror suspects held would have to be taken to court in the USA. The US President defended the American policy after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 and stated that it was “absurd to consider the USA more dangerous than Iran“. This view was supported by Schüssel, who stated that it was “grotesque” to say that the USA were a threat to peace. “We understand what the attacks of September 11th have meant to the USA“.
In a joint final declaration of the Vienna summit the USA and the EU pledged their commitment to observing international law and human rights in the combat against terrorism. At the same time, intensified cooperation in steps to counter terrorism has been announced.
The EU and the USA took a common stance on the nuclear issue with Iran. Both Bush and EU Council President in office Schüssel urged that Teheran should adopt the compromise package developed by the five veto powers of the UN Security Council and by Germany. The USA underlined their readiness to engage in direct negotiations with Iran as soon as Teheran suspended uranium enrichment.
Bush called on the Europeans to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq. He showed understanding for differentiated views on the Iraq war but emphasised how important it was to focus on the future Iraq.
The US President praised the Balkans policy of the EU, and notably of Austria, and announced that the USA wished to support the processes of democratisation and economic consolidation.
As far as differences of opinion regarding liberalisation negotiations in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were concerned, Bush demanded progress in removing mutual obstacles in agricultural exports. A strategic cooperation partnership in energy issues and an action programme for the protection of intellectual property rights were adopted. Furthermore, the EU and the USA signed an agreement on intensifying cooperation in the field of higher education and vocational training.
President in-office of the European Council Schüssel described the Vienna talks with Bush as “highly productive and fruitful”. Differences of opinion should “never overshadow the profundity and quality of cooperation between the EU and the USA“, stressed Schüssel.
Before the official EU-US summit, the US President met with Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer for bilateral talks. From Vienna Bush travelled to Budapest, where he participated in a ceremony commemorating the Hungarian Uprising against the Communist regime in 1956. ■

Finnish President Tarja Halonen pays an official visit to Austria from 26 to 27 June 2006. Her official programme includes talks with Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer and EU Council President Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel. The Presidency of the European Council rotating every six months will be taken over by Finland from Austria on 1 July 2006.
In the preliminaries of her visit Halonen referred to a “meeting with friends“. Her aim was to further strengthen the excellent relations between Finland and Austria. Finland’s ambassador in Vienna Kirsti Kauppi also paid tribute to the “successful Austrian EU Presidency“. ■

“With the results of the European Council we have developed a balanced and successful package for Europe”, informed EU Council President Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel about the summit of heads of state and government in Brussels (15/16 June 2006) after the Council of Ministers on 19 June 2006. Austria had achieved that transparency, subsidiarity and security would be prioritised. Despite the opposition of some states, the Council deliberations on legal acts will in the future be open to the public.
The security policy aspect of integration and of migratory flows was a completely new subject in the debate. Incoming and outgoing migration had to be taken very seriously, said Schüssel. This included the surveillance of the sea along West Africa’s coast, intensified air-traffic control and the adoption of the Schengen Treaty (a cross-border control and security agreement) by the candidate countries.
Moreover, the European Commission had been called upon to prepare a study on the Union’s capacity to absorb new members by year-end. The aim of the study was to incorporate the experience with previous enlargement rounds into the future integration process. “The candidate country and the EU have to be ready for accession. For the first time the European Commission has been requested to develop and present a precise definition of its absorption capacity”, stated the Federal Chancellor. Financial and political criteria could for example be applied in evaluating this capacity.
With regard to the EU Constitution Schüssel said that a “Europe of projects” had been fixed. The “substance of the Constitution” had been retained. New impulses to the Constitution process were expected during the German Presidency. ■

In his speech to the Hungarian Jurists’ Day in Balatonfüred (Hungary) on 15 June 2006, Federal President Heinz Fischer expressed his conviction that a Treaty for a European Constitution would be an appropriate tool to influence the further development of the European Union favourably. However, the enlargement project of the Union demanded an “all-European democratisation process“. According to Fischer a feasible approach would be to involve citizens in decision-making on crucial European issues by Europe-wide referendums, whose outcome would be positive if a (double) majority of votes and Member States was reached.
The acceptance of the “European project” could flourish only on the basis of a social market economy, which “did not consider the individual a mere cost factor and was committed to the principle of sustainability”, stressed the Federal President. ■

The new Human Rights Council of the United Nations held its first session in Geneva on 19 June 2006. It replaces the former UN Human Rights Commission and is subordinate to the UN General Assembly. “Never allow this Council to become caught up in political point-scoring or petty manoeuvre. Think always of those whose rights are denied”, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned against repeating the mistakes of the past in his opening statement to the 47 member countries.
Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik representing the EU underlined the responsibility of the international community to offer effective and timely protection to potential victims of human rights violations through this new UN institution.
The EU Council President in office stated that two major human rights challenges were the continuing discrimination against women and girls as well as to uphold human rights standards in the combat against terrorism. “In view of the continuing high level of violence against women, the increase of trafficking in women and girls and the growing impact of Aids, urgent measures are required to promote the protection of the human rights of women and girls”, stated Plassnik.
The fight against terrorism should be carried out with full respect for human rights and the rule of law, emphasised Plassnik. In this context, she underlined that the prohibition of torture had to remain absolute. ■

The United States of America are Austria’s largest overseas market and its third most important trading partner. In 2005 exports reached 5.3 billion euro, while imports totalled 3.2 billion euro. For Austria this resulted in a trade balance surplus of more than 2 billion euro and an increase in the export volume by 0.4% compared to the previous year. Hence, Austrian exports to the USA have quadrupled during the past ten years. In the same period Austria’s worldwide exports doubled. This year foreign trade with the US has also been booming. In the first quarter 2006 an export plus of 34.9% (1.75 billion euro) from the prior-year level was recorded, which was 50% above the rate of exports to the remaining world. Imports grew by 41.3% (880 million euro).
According to estimates by the Economic Chamber Austria (WKÖ), the USA – the largest national economy of the world accounting for 25% of the global economic performance – will continue to offer the greatest growth opportunities outside the EU-15. Up to 2007 exports to the USA could climb by another 1.3 billion euro to approximately 7 billion euro. WKÖ President Christoph Leitl underlined the highly dynamic development of Austria’s transatlantic external trade. Austria had to participate in the strong upturn in the business cycle in the US and conquer new market shares from dominant EU competitors. Leitl stated that there was an enormous development potential, especially in current top export sectors like environmental and energy technology, medical and pharmaceutical engineering, the car supplies industry or energy drinks.
Direct investment relations between Austria and the USA are also very intensive. According to Leitl, Austria’s total capital stock in the US was about 2.5 billion euro at year-end 2004. Currently about 420 Austrian branches and 800 representative offices are registered in the US. On the contrary, the total capital stock of the USA in Austria was 5.8 billion euro at the end of 2004. Almost 40,000 employees work in US subsidiaries in Austria.
In a meeting of Eurochambres and the US Chamber of Commerce on 20 June 2006 organised in the preliminaries of the Vienna EU-US summit (21 June 2006), Presidents Leitl and Thomas Donohue signed an agreement on close cooperation in promoting a favourable development of the global economy and a stable peaceful world. Concrete subjects addressed were the urgently required progress in barrier-free world trade (WTO), the common combat against pirate copies and pirating, the protection of intellectual property as well as a global energy policy regarding renewable energies. ■

In parallel to the EU-US summit, the “Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue” (TABD) was held in Vienna on 21 June 2006, in which currently 33 large enterprises from the EU and the US participate. Magna Steyr recently became the first Austrian company to join TABD.
Among the meeting participants were EU Council President, Economic Minister Martin Bartenstein and Günther Verheugen, Vice President of the EU Commission, as well as US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Davis Sampson. An agreement was reached to intensify transatlantic economic relations and to collaborate more closely in the energy sector as well as in customs and border controls against product pirating. Bartenstein highlighted the favourable trade development between the EU and the US. In 2005 the trade volume including services had exceeded 650 billion euro. ■

Austrian farmers receive 3.5 billion euro from the EU budget 2007-2013 – thus more than in the past (3.3 billion euro). This decision was adopted by the EU agriculture ministers in Luxembourg on 19 June 2006. EU-wide about 70 billion euro are available for rural development. ■

According to Eurostat, the purchasing power of the Austrians was 23% above the EU average in 2005. Thus Austria (together with the Netherlands) has the EU’s fourth largest per-capita gross domestic product. Ranks 1 to 3 are held by Luxembourg, Ireland and Denmark. ■

In the framework of the summit between the European Union and the USA held in Vienna on 21 June 2006, Foreign Minister and EU Council President in office Ursula Plassnik, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement on boosting transatlantic cooperation in higher education and vocational training. Economic considerations were also in the background. At the preceding summit in Washington in 2005 the USA and the EU had agreed on a growth initiative, with the field of education being used as a tool “to boost synergies across the Atlantic by becoming more knowledge-based economies“, stated Plassnik. The main subject of the agreement covering a period of eight years is the Transatlantic Degree programme. The idea of the programme is that partner institutions create integrated joint study programmes, with students spending a period of study both in the USA and in Europe and then getting either a joint degree of the educational institutions or a so-called “double degree” (de facto one certificate of each educational institution).
Another aim is to generally facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and educational degrees earned in the respective “blocs”. The financial support of associations of European and US-American educational institutions that have successfully operated student exchanges in the past is to be extended. The agreement also strengthens cooperation with the Fulbright programme of the US government. It was initiated after WWII. by Senator J. William Fulbright. Since then more than 250,000 teachers, US citizens as well as foreigners have benefited from research and teaching grants for periods of study at universities and schools.
From 2006 to 2013 the EU and the USA plan to invest 45 million euro each in the transatlantic education programme. Since 1995 each of them has earmarked 2 million euro annually for this purpose. 726 educational facilities currently participate in this educational cooperation project. So far 4,000 students have participated in the exchange projects. “This agreement has multiplied the financial resources allocated to this joint educational project. About 6,000 students and teachers will benefit directly. This exchange project makes a vital contribution to mutual understanding and to openness. It is a personal concern of Condoleezza Rice, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and of mine to bring young people on both sides of the Atlantic closer together and to support them”, stated Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. ■

“In the field of culture and the media the Austrian EU Presidency has clearly met the targets set. This is a positive result for European cultural creators, the European creative industry and the European media landscape”, stated Secretary of State for Art and Media Franz Morak in Brussels on 20 June 2006 to the Committee on Culture of the European Parliament. In conclusion of the Austrian EU Council Presidency, Morak underlined the diversity of dossiers negotiated during the past six months – from programmes promoting culture and the media, the citizenship programme, the revision of the decision on the European Capital of Culture, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity to the recommendation on youth protection and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Morak explicitly stressed that all this had become possible also thanks to the close cooperation with the members of the European Parliament and the European Commission. One could be satisfied with the overall result, including the funding of programmes. In Brussels Morak also met with the Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas to discuss various topics, among them future e-government cooperation at European level. The European Commission had shown great interest in the Austrian success path of the past few years – particularly in best practices like electronic file processing or electronic law-making. Secretary of State Morak underlined that intensive cooperation regarding the recognition of electronic documents as well as the electronic communication between the European Commission and the Member States was necessary, last but not least to facilitate electronic services for the citizens of Europe. ■

As Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer and Head of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Christoph Kratky announced, the Wittgenstein Prize 2006 goes to quantum physicist Jörg Schmiedmayer, whose area of research is the development of so-called “atom chips”. This research field combines the quantum manipulation of nuclear physics and quantum optics with nano technology.
Schmiedmayer, born in Vienna in 1960, studied physics and astronomy at the Technical University (TU) of Vienna. After earning a PhD in 1987 and doing research at Harvard University and at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT), he joined Anton Zeilinger’s team at the Institute of Experimental Physics at Innsbruck University in 1993. In 2000 he was invited by the University of Heidelberg to establish an atomchip working group. The internationally renowned scientist has now been appointed to a professorship for experimental physics at Vienna Technical University, a position that has been vacant for same years. He plans to organise a team of excellent young scientists. ■

While the Wittgenstein Prize is awarded for extraordinary achievements in the past, the START Prize goes to fledgling researchers to support them in realising promising new projects. Each year the Ministry of Science grants a maximum of five START Prizes to young scientists not older than 36 years, having a record of outstanding international scientific publications and having been active abroad. The prize winners are selected by an international experts’ jury.
Hartmut Häffner of the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQO-QI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Inns¬bruck is granted support for his project “Coupling of ion traps – quantum processor“.
Norbert Polacek of the Innsbruck Medical University does research on the ribosom, an enzyme crucial for protein production, which is present in all living cells.
Piet Oliver Schmidt of the Institute for Experimental Physics of the University of Innsbruck investigates precision spectroscopy, which is used to examine the internal state of atoms and molecules.
Josef Teichmann of the Institute of Mathematical Methods in Economy at Vienna’s Technical University explores stochastic processes, a key tool for modelling numerous technical, economic or natural scientific phenomena.
Gerald Teschl, mathematician at Vienna University, receives the prize for “Spectral Analysis and Applications to Soliton Equations“. Solitons are special waves that neither spread out nor break but which under certain conditions propagate without changing their shape. In optical fibre cables solitons are used to achieve transmission rates of up to ten tera bit per second.
Since the introduction of the programme in 1996, 18 Wittgenstein and 54 START prizes have been awarded, which were funded with a total of 81.5 million euro. As Minister for Education Gehrer stressed, the prize money is not only granted for promoting the training of young scientists but has also been invested in about 800 position requiring top qualification. A Wittgenstein prize winner employs 15 staff members on average, a START prize winner ten. ■

“György Ligeti has been one of the mouthpieces of New Music in Europe for decades and has enriched sound art with unique tones. He found a second home in Austria 50 years ago, where he also enthused a large audience with his compositions. Ligeti fled from Hungary in 1956 and quickly became one of the great Austrians in the realm of 20th century music“. With these words Federal Chancellor Schüssel and Secretary of State for Art Morak paid homage to the Hungarian-Jewish composer, who had been born in Transylvania (Romania) in 1923 and died in Vienna on 12 June 2006 after suffering from a long and severe illness. His father and brother had been killed by the Nazis. “During the Nazi period and under the Communist regime, my life was full of risks. I think this is reflected, and the feeling lingers on”, Ligeti stated once in an interview with the Austrian Press Agency (APA). He enriched the world of music with compositions of interwoven sound textures. His orchestral work “Atmosphères” was cheered enthusiastically in Donaueschingen in 1961. Among his key works is the opera “Le Grand Macabre“ premiered in 1978 at the Salzburg Festival, which has recently been presented at the Graz Opera House as a production by Barrie Kosky. Ligeti also processed extra-European music in a very original way, especially highly complex rhythms of African music originating south of the Sahara, e.g. in his “Poème symphonique“ for 100 metronomes. With “Lux Aeterna“ – a piece of music of the spheres – György Ligeti enthralled a large audience. It was the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001 – The Space Odyssey“. It was interpreted by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) and the Ar¬nold Schönberg Choir at a farewell concert at Konzerthaus in Vienna. The funeral ceremony was held at the Simmering crematorium of Vienna’s Central Cemetery on 26 June 2006. The urn will be placed in a tomb of honour of the City of Vienna at a later date. ■

The Austrian best-selling author Daniel Kehl¬mann (born in Munich in 1975) was showered with prizes. In Weimar he was awarded the Prize of Literature of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. It paid homage to Kehlmann’s “epic works dealing with natural scientific and philosophical disciplines in a playful and humorous way“. Since 1997 he has published six novels and volumes of stories as well as one volume of essays. His book “Die Vermessung der Welt“ (“Measuring the World”) has been on the “Spiegel” bestseller list for 37 weeks, topping it for 20 weeks. Rowohlt has sold about 580,000 copies. In this novel Kehlmann describes a “summit meeting” between nature researcher Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. The theme is the intellectual freedom and social responsibility of the human being in the modern knowledge-based society.
Recently, Kehlmann has also received the Heimito von Doderer Literature Prize 2006. The award ceremony will take place in Cologne in September. This prize has been named after the Viennese writer (1896-1966), who became famous for his novel “Die Strudlhofstiege oder Mel¬zer und die Tiefe der Jahre“ (“The Strudelhof Steps”) published in 1951. ■

Matthias Hartmann (43) will start his new position as a director of Burgtheater in the season 2009/10 under a five-year contract. He will succeed to Klaus Bachler, who will manage Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from 2008/09 onwards – in the first season in parallel to Burgtheater. This has been announced by Secretary of State Morak on 13 June 2006. Hart-mann represented “a new generation of theatre managers. He has demonstrated in the past that he is able to combine success with high artistic standards and professionalism with passion“.
Matthias Hartmann, born in Osnabrück in 1963, has made a brilliant theatre career in recent years. In the season 2000/01 he started as a manager of Schauspielhaus Bochum, since 2005 he has been responsible for Schauspielhaus Zurich. At Vienna’s Burgtheater he excelled as a producer, e.g. of Schiller’s “The Robbers“ and Peter Turrini’s “Love in Madagascar“. ■

After restitution by Austria, the patron of the art and cosmetics producer Ronald S. Lauder acquired the portrait “Adele Bloch-Bauer I“ (“Golden Adele“) by Gustav Klimt for 135 million dollar (106.7 million euro) for Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan co-founded by him in 2001. Based on other available data on sales via auction houses, “Adele“ is the world’s most expensive painting. The record had been held by Pablo Picasso’s “Man With a Pipe“, sold for 104 million dollars. “Adele Bloch-Bauer I“ is the most valuable of five Klimt paintings, which had been returned to the Bloch-Bauer heirs around Maria Altmann in January 2006 by the Republic of Austria after several years of litigation and a final arbitration award. The museum in New York will present all five Klimt paintings in an exhibition from 13 July to 18 September 2006. Gustav Klimt’s radical friend Egon Schiele is enjoying undreamed-of popularity. His painting “Autumn Sun“ was bought at an auction at Christie’s in London for 17.2 million euro by an anonymous client. ■

“Salzburg will prevail as the candidate offering short routes and the best sports facilities. We have to avoid the mistakes of the previous application“, Secretary of State Schweitzer showed himself pleased and optimistic. Besides Salzburg, Pyeongchang (South Korea) and Sotchi (Russia) were granted the status of official candidates for hosting the Winter Games 2014. ■

In its second quarterly meeting on 30 May 2006 the decision-making body of Top Sport Austria (TSA) has pledged to grant financial support amounting to 841,500 euro. 401,000 euro will go to the programme “Elite Sport”, 134,000 euro to “Olympia“, 50,500 euro to so-called “Hope“ projects and 256,000 euro to cadre support programmes. Hence, this year Austria’s specialised sports associations have been promised financial aid totalling 1,462,500 euro. For the first time subsidies have been allocated to the “Mental Service“, an institution operated in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Network of Sports Psychology, which is responsible for psychological care to athletes. This service institution pursues the important goal of offering athletes sports psychological counselling and ongoing support in a professional and efficient way. ■

Secretary of State Schweitzer and Portugal’s former Minister for Sport Josè Luis Arnaut presented the recent study “Independent European Sport Review 2006“ dealing with the question how to optimally implement the Nice Declaration in football. Based on the assumption that cross-border problem issues like doping, corruption, illegal bets or money laundering can be solved only with a joint and holistic approach, the report addresses football organisation, EU institutions and national authorities. It points out that the EU institutions and decision-making bodies in football would have to take comprehensive and decisive action to create more legal certainty in football. The report will be submitted to 25 Parliaments and ministers as well as to UEFA and FIFA. Moreover, it will be incorporated into the Conclusions of the Austrian Presidency. ■

At the opening of the United Nations European Youth Leadership Summit, Secretary of State Schweitzer presented a pioneering report that describes how governments around the globe use sport to achieve goals of development and peace policy. The report was compiled by the international working group “Sport for Development and Peace“ (IAG SEF). In addition to Schweitzer, Maria Martens, spokeswoman of the Committee on Development of the European Parliament as well as Djibril Diallo, Director of the UN New York Office of Sport for Development and Peace, participated in the event. ■

Together with several-times marathon world champion Tegla Loroupe, Schweitzer announced that Austria would support the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation. The aim of this welfare organisation is to promote peaceful, social and economic development in Africa as well as to make use of sport as a tool for conflict settlement, peace-making and the combat against poverty. A teacher will be provided to a Tegla Loroupe Peace Academy for at least one year to support the development of the Academy. ■