At its closed-door meeting under the motto “Austria is on the upswing“ at Vienna’s Hofburg on 22 November 2004, the Federal Government submitted a favourable interim report for the first six months of the parliamentary term and also presented the working programme for the second half-year. Administration and the Austrian Constitution as well as security and social affairs are top priorities.
“The interim results show that we a doing fairly well”, said Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel in his opening statement. Out of 150 measures defined in the government’s programme, 120 have been adopted or are being implemented.
At the subsequent press conference Schüssel and Vice-Chancellor Hubert Gorbach presented a total of 90 projects to the public. In this context, the Chancellor spoke of a “red-white-red strategy for Austria”. Items on the official agenda are a new Constitution (“Austria Convention”), the federal army and civil service reforms, a new court organisation, measures to enhance security, a “training programme” for credit card users, educational programmes, research promotion and stronger children’s rights. ■

The governing parties, i.e. the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Freedom Party (FPÖ), adopted the law on the harmonisation of pension systems in the Lower House of Parliament (Nationalrat) on 18 November 2004. At the plenary session Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel referred to an “achievement for future generations” and stressed that the different pension systems of those insured under the General Law on Social Insurance (ASVG), of civil servants, farmers and the self-employed would now be governed by a uniform pension insurance law. A “serious, transparent and simple law for everyone” had been created on just eight pages with 15 paragraphs. This was described as a “quantum leap” by Schüssel.
The Federal Chancellor rejected demands for more protection under transitional legislation since this would be contrary to the interests of the younger generation. Moreover, a strong second pillar had been established with occupational and private pension schemes, underlined Schüssel. The Chancellor explicitly thanked Fritz Neugebauer, head of the civil servants’ union, with whom the details had been agreed on only one day earlier. The union had assumed “political responsibility for the state”.
No ceiling (limiting losses to 15%) will be introduced for deductions in the case of voluntary early retirement. Compulsory early retirement for jobless people aged 62 or over will be abolished. ■

Jointly with Secretary of State Ursula Haubner (social affairs) and Secretary of State Alfred Finz (finance), Chancellor Schüssel presented the status quo of public administration reforms on the “Day of Public Service” (25 November 2004). Schüssel emphasised that tribute had to be paid to Austria’s civil servants and public officials, who – contrary to obsolete clichés – were not laggards but “pioneers” in many areas.
“What we want to achieve is that a strong state concentrates on matters that are really necessary. The public service should be a partner and a service institution for the citizen. Thanks to state-of-the-art communication technology, administration has become available online 24 hours a day”, said the Federal Chancellor. As far as e-government was concerned Austria ranked among the first three or four countries in the EU.
A significant increase in online services of the Federal Government and user numbers attest to the success of the reform efforts. The Federal Chancellery’s site “www.help.gv.at” registered eight million hits per month and the FINANZOnline webpage was accessed by seven million users. Online services had become available for 200 life situations, stressed Schüssel, who also quoted a poll according to which 88% of the citizens described their experience with authorities and official bodies as positive. Almost one third stated that Austria’s administration had developed highly favourably over the past few years. Schüssel underscored the efficiency gains in public administration. Although the level of personnel had decreased from 170.000 (1999) to 140.000 (2006) – more tasks were coped with in less time. ■

At the anniversary summit of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in the Slovenian seaside resort Portoroz (25/26 November) Austria was represented by Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel. The summit was staged on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the foundation of the Central European Initiative by Austria, Italy, Hungary and Yugoslavia (on 11 November 1989) after the collapse of Communism.
Today 17 countries – including Ukraine – belong to this loose alliance of states. Nine of them were represented by their heads of government at the annual CEI plenary session. Besides Austria’s Chancellor Schüssel, parting Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop, who chaired the meeting, and Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were among the participants.
The meeting focused on the crisis in Ukraine after the presidential elections. A special statement requested an investigation into the election manipulation by the governing powers and called for moderation. Chancellor Schüssel stated that EU involvement was necessary. The Ukrainian citizens were demonstrating “also for European values”. All measures possible to solve the crisis should be taken, said Schüssel.
On the sidelines of the CEI summit, the Austrian Federal Chancellor also attended several bilateral meetings, e.g. with incoming Slovenian head of government Janez Jansa, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Albanian head of government Fatos Nano. ■

EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and EU Foreign Minister designate Javier Solana came to Vienna for official talks on 19 November 2004. Items on his agenda were meetings with Federal President Heinz Fischer, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel and Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. In addition, Solana delivered an address about “the prospects for a Foreign Minister of the European Union” at the Forum Europe organised by the Austrian Broadcasting Station (ORF) and the German TV channel WDR at Hofburg in Vienna.
The EU Battle Groups to be set up would not change the Union’s common foreign and security policy, explained Solana to journalists after his meeting with Foreign Minister Plassnik. Their main aim was rapid crisis intervention to prevent conflicts. According to Solana, the international troop would consists of about 100,000 soldiers. ■

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop-Scheffer arrived in Vienna on 18 November 2004 for official meetings with Federal President Heinz Fischer, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and Minister of Defence Günther Platter.
The NATO chief praised Austria’s role as a partner of the North Atlantic Pact. At a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Plassnik, De Hoop-Scheffer stated that Austria could serve as a role model for other NATO partners, e.g. in Central Asia and in the Caucasus. Plassnik answered a question about Austria’s neutrality by stating that there was “no need and no reason to leave the proven Austrian path“. ■

The first trilateral meeting of the Federal Presidents of Switzerland, Austria and Germany on 20 November 2004 focused on issues related to European integration. In St. Gallen (Switzerland) host Joseph Deiss, Austria’s Federal President Heinz Fischer and their German counterpart Horst Köhler emphasised common views on various EU issues. As a non-member of the EU, Switzerland is linked to the Union by special agreements. ■

In the wake of the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU, the good-neighbourly relations between Prague and Vienna had acquired a new dimension and quality, announced Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda and Austria’s Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik on 25 November 2004 at a meeting in Prague. ■

In his laudatory statement held on the occasion of the appointment of the new members of the “economic panel” (set up within Austria’s federal statistical office “Statistik Österreich”) on 24 November 2004, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel highlighted the significance of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the Austrian economy.
Schüssel reminded of the fact that the mid-sized companies had played a major role in the positive transformation of the domestic economy after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and Austria’s accession to the EU in 1995. “We have something that is not taken for granted in other countries – successful small and medium-sized enterprises. These 300,000 companies are the growth engine of our economy and make a decisive contribution to the social cohesion in our country”, said the Federal Chancellor.
In this context, Schüssel drew attention to the strong export orientation of the SMEs and their readiness to invest in Eastern and Central Europe. More than 15,000 joint ventures had been founded there since 1989 by Austrian enterprises, leading to a net increase of 60,000 jobs in Austria. Schüssel: “By promoting small and medium-sized enterprises and pursuing an active neighbourhood policy, we have laid the foundations for turning EU enlargement into a win-win situation for Austria“. The necessary structural adjustments have been initiated and implemented at the political level (e.g. by adopting tax and administrative reforms and by safeguarding sustainable social systems). ■

Austria’s banks are currently exploring the market to determine if and at what price a block of shares of Telekom Austria (TA) could be placed with institutional investors. This was confirmed by an investment company on 24 November 2004. According to a report by the Austrian daily “Presse“, the domestic state holding company ÖIAG plans to sell 17% of its TA shares and entrusted the investment bank J.P. Morgan and two domestic banks with finding buyers. However, this has not been confirmed officially. ÖIAG, which holds 42.2% of TA (excluding the convertible bond of 5%), is authorised to sell 17% through the stock exchange before the end of 2004. At a price of 12 euro per share this would yield about 1 billion euro. The definitive selling price has, however, still to be approved by the ÖIAG Supervisory Board in early December. ■

According to a list of the world’s most respected companies compiled by the consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the “Financial Times“ (FT), the listed Linz-based steel producer voestalpine is Austria’s globally most renowned enterprise. The domestic mineral oil group OMV ranks second, and beverage producer Red Bull (Salzburg) is Austria’s number three. Ranks four to six are occupied by the crystal group Swarowski (Tyrol), the Upper Austrian technology group VA Tech and Telekom Austria (TA).
The world’s most renowned firm is the US-American conglomerate General Electric (GE).
Thanks to the boom in the steel sector, voestalpine has registered its best half-year result in the group’s history. In the first six months of the current financial year 2004/2005 (ending on 31 March) the earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) surged by 27.5% from 146.8 to 187.1 million euro year-on-year. The sales increased from 2.263 to 2.735 billion euro (+ 20.8%). ■

Austria was excellently prepared for the future in economic terms and stood international comparison, stressed Minister for Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein in the budget debate of the plenary session of Nationalrat (Lower House) on 16 November 2004. According to the autumn forecast of the European Commission, Austria is expected to exceed the EU average in seven out of eight key economic parameters next year“, said Bartenstein. A growth rate of 2.4% (EU average 2.3%) and an unemployment rate of 3.9% (EU average 9.1%) were forecast for Austria, informed the Minister. ■

Leopold Figl, first Federal Chancellor of the Second Republic, opened the first session of the Council of Ministers in December 1945 with the words: “We are all inspired by one thought, to devote ourselves in the most selfless way to our motherland and our people (...) although we are the representatives of political parties, we do have to put all party interests last. We know only one goal, i.e. the welfare of our people (...)“. On 1 December 2004 the Federal Chancellery will issue the early “Minutes of the Council of Ministers” under the legendary head of government (20 December 1945 to 9 April 1946) as the 1st volume of the series edited by Gertrude Enderle-Burcel and Rudolf Jeřábek. This has been a personal concern of Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Franz Morak, who succeeded in obtaining the necessary financial resources in the framework of the commemorative year 2005.
Thus the edition that started with the minutes of the provisional government under Renner continues with the period after 1945. Another two volumes of the envisaged ten publications of the series covering the period until 8 November 1949 will be issued during 2005.
The annotated complete edition of the Minutes of the Council of Ministers of the Figl Government provides basic source material on the early years of the Second Republic. Thus these Minutes are an important contribution to the research on the (re)construction of the national and political institutions in Austria. The series is edited by Österreichische Gesellschaft für historische Quellenstudien (Austrian Society for Historical Source Studies), which has published editions of the Minutes of the Council of Ministers of the First Republic during the past 20 years and of the Second Republic in recent years.
The festive speech about Leopold Figl and his Cabinet I will be held by Ernst Bruckmüller, professor for economic and social history at Vienna University. ■

On 16 November 2004, the Council of Ministers adopted the amendment to the Film Promotion Act. It formulates the mission of the Austrian Film Institute as a competence centre for the Austrian film and lays down details on the establishment of an Austrian Film Advisory Board. The new expert panel representing all interest groups will be responsible for advising in matters related to film policy and drafting basic film policy recommendations. Secretary of State Franz Morak explained inter alia that the bill made it possible “to strengthen and further develop successful film promotion in Austria“. Key provisions of the bill were dedicated to the revision of rights of use concerning image carriers and TV. This complied with a “request by the film producers wishing to strengthen their position vis-à-vis TV broadcasters and to take advantage of other opportunities to exploit rights of use as early as possible”, said Morak. ■

On 27 November 2004 the 16th European Television and Film Forum was concluded at the Hofburg conference centre in Vienna. Its motto was “Expanding Horizons: New Countries, New Players, New Platforms“. About 400 representatives of European film and TV companies discussed inter alia the development of the TV industry in the enlarged Europe. The Forum was supported by Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR) and its partners ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation), the Federal Chancellery, the Austrian Association of the Audiovisual and Film Industry, the Economic Chamber Austria (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich / WKÖ) and Vienna Film Fund (FFW). The meeting was opened by Secretary of State Morak in the presence of Fran¬cisco Balsemao, President of the European Film and TV Forum, and ORF Director General Monika Lindner. Cultural Ministers and Secretaries of State for Culture from Croatia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia discussed with Morak the cultural identity of Europe from the perspective of the new EU Member States. This important Forum is convened annually. ■

On the occasion of the 86th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Latvia, the exhibition “Latvian Architecture 2000-2003“ was inaugurated at Palais Coburg in Vienna on 16 November 2004 by Latvian Minister of Culture Helena Demakova and Austrian Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak.
The show also presents the design of the Graz-based architects’ studio Volker Giencke for a new concert hall in the Latvian coastal town Liepaja. With their design of a concert hall accommodating 1,200 people, the architects from Graz outshone all the other competitors. ■

The architects from Vorarlberg Bernard Marte and Stefan Marte received the State Prize “Architecture 2004” in the category “trade and industry” on 15 November 2004. The new building for the company S.I.E System Industrie Electronic in Lustenau (Vorarlberg) with its multi-purpose design and huge dimension impacting the landscape convinced the jury. Minister for Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein presented the prize at a festive event in Vienna. The jury stressed that the architecture of the building by Marte & Marte reflected the democratic working principles which led to a great identification of the staff with their job. The State Prize for Architecture is offered by the Ministry for Economy and Labour in cooperation with the Economic Chamber Austria, the Austrian Foundation for Architecture, the Federal Chamber of Architects and Engineering Consultants and the Federal Chancellery alternately in the categories “industry and trade”, “tourism and leisure” as well as “new working environments in administration and trade“ based on a decision by an independent expert jury. ■

The 2004 Prize Promoting Experimental Tendencies in Architecture was awarded to Julian Löffler for his project “A New Mirador“ at Architekturforum Oberösterreich on 24 November 2004. Michael Weingärtner, the architects’ ¬team “tercer piso arquitectos“ and the duo SPAN, Matias del Campo and Sandra Manninger, received prizes acknowledging their work. The aim of the Prize Promoting Architecture, which has been awarded every two years since 1988, is to raise public awareness of modern architecture in Austria. As Secretary of State for the Arts Morak explained, the work of predominantly young architects was important with a view to disseminating new ideas, approaches and methodologies and to bring them up for discussion by an interested public“. ■

At a ceremony held in St. Gallen (Switzerland) on 20 November 2004, Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer awarded the Great Silver Badge of Honour of the Republic of Austria to the 80-year-old author Johannes Mario Simmel born in Vienna (e.g. famous for his novel ”It Can’t Always be Caviar“). Fischer said he had always appreciated Simmel “for his stance, convictions and clear words“. The Austrian writer had consistently rejected violence, dictatorship and xenophobia. “Austria congratulates you together with me”, stated the President. Recently 100,000 free copies of Simmel’s early novel “Das geheime Brot“ had been distributed in the book festival campaign of the City of Vienna “A City. A Book”. The stock of copies was soon exhausted (see News from Austria No. 22). ■

Until 2 December the Jewish Film Week in Vienna is offering a diversified and controversial programme, including films by the Austrian film creators Hubert Canaval (“In der Fremde zu Haus“, documentary), Walter Wehmeyer (“Middle East – Trauma and Hope of the Young“), Michael Pfeifenberger (“Chaltura – Leila & Lena“), Christian Mehofer (“The Third Minute“), Simone Bader and Jo Schmeiser (“Things.Places.Years“). The latter film describes how displacement, emigration and the Holocaust mark the lives of twelve women in London over three generations. The international feature films series presents e.g. “De Tweeling“ (“Twin Sisters“) by Ben Sombogaart. The mother of the twins Lotte and Anna Bamberg dies at giving birth. Still, they grow up living a carefree life with their father. After his death the sisters are separated. ■

On 28 November 2004 the Orpheus Trust organised a concert of music by composers who had been forced to escape from the NS regime in Austria to France and could not return to their native country. Works by Hanns Eisler, Norbert Glanzberg, Max Deutsch and Paul Arma were impressively interpreted by mezzo-soprano Christina Ascher and the ensemble “die reihe“ conducted by Andreas Mitisek. ■

The Art Sponsors “Maecenas“ Award is granted in acknowledgement of the cooperation between art and economy, notably the “creative industry”, which has been encouraged repeatedly by Secretary of State Morak. An independent panel of “Initiative Wirtschaft für Kunst” selected the top five enterprises from 144 projects. On 24 November 2004 the awards ceremony was held at Vienna’s Hotel Imperial. In the category “newcomers” the hotel “Le Meridien Wien“ recently opened on Vienna’s Ring avenue convinced the jury with its temporary exhibitions. The winegrowers in Krems supporting the music festival “Glatt&Verkehrt” received an award for the best “projects by small and medium-sized enterprises”. Another “Maecenas“ trophy (category “concepts”) went to Wiener Städtische Versicherung for its commitment to children’s literature. The award in the category “arts and science” was conferred on the company Dinkhauser (Tyrol). With its series “Morgensterne“, the daily “Kleine Zeitung” became the winner of the category “arts and media”. ■

The illustrated arts volume “Schätze russischer Kunst – Goldene Karte Russlands“ providing an overview of the 400 most significant paintings and sculptures from 25 regions of Russia was presented at an event titled “Culture meets Economy – Austria meets Russia“ at the Austrian National Library in Vienna on 17 November 2004. The book was introduced to the public by representatives of Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer, by EconGas, OMV Gas GmbH and GWH Gas- und Warenhan¬dels GmbH. OMV, Central Europe’s leading oil and gas enterprise, had been the first Western European company to conclude supply agreements with the Russian Gazprom as early as in 1968. Today about one third of the Russian natural gas exports are supplied via the OMV pipeline system to Western Europe. The works of art depicted in this book mirror the development of Russian art from icon painting to avant-garde art of the 20th century. The book project had been initiated by the state-owned gallery Tretjakov in Moscow. In its project “Golden Map of Russia“ the works had been listed and documented for the first time. ■

Wien Museum highlights the history of the myth “Old Vienna” in an exhibition running until 28 March 2005 at Künstlerhaus. It depicts an imaginary urban idyll, which has been created in the ideological running fight against urban renewers. The visitor is given an overview of 200 years of urban history that has not been so “gemütlich“ (cosy, easygoing) as the cliché of Vienna implies. Hence, “good old Vienna” has been nurtured by the attitudes of the respective epoch. An example is Franz Schubert. Tormented by inner conflicts and expanding the limits of music, he has been reduced to a kitschy Biedermeier character like in the bestseller “Schwammerl“. By the way, in Vienna’s first district more than half of the old buildings were demolished between 1850 and 1900. ■

Light art is currently en vogue all over the world. Lately, the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) has been illuminated from the inside with blue-red light by James Turrell, whose collection of light art can be visited at MAK until 16 January 2005. Francesca Habsburg’s exquisite gallery “T-B A21“ shows (until 12 February 2005) “Modus Operandi“ – light art by Carsten Höller, Doug Aitken and Olafur Eliasson, whose monumental sunrise enthused two million visitors of London’s Tate Modern this spring. ■

At the closed-door government meeting held in the top storey of Vienna’s former imperial palace Hofburg, Secretary of State for Sports Karl Schweitzer emphasised that he considered physical education of vital importance and a top priority. The “2005 International Year of Sports and Physical Education” proclaimed by the United Nations (UN) should not exist merely on paper but should be crucial to all of us, stated the Secretary of State. Sport could set going a lot and make important beneficial contributions to education, health, development and peace. Schweitzer was therefore pleased about the cooperation launched with the Ministry for Education, Science and Culture (BMBWK). Intensive and highly constructive talks had already been held with his colleague in the government, Federal Minister Elisabeth Gehrer, with a view to changing school timetables in favour of physical education and sports. Furthermore, Schweitzer advocated the re-introduction of a winter sports week for all pupils, which he wanted to realise in cooperation with the Austrian Skiing Association (Österreichischer Skiverband/ÖSV) and the cable railways. "The world of sport does not only offer an enormous potential to the individual but for the Austrian tourist sector as a whole. Our children of today are the potential customers of tomorrow". In this context, the cable railway operators were invited to actively shape and support the "Sport For All" movement of the International Year of Sports 2005. According to Schweitzer, the bottom line was a win-win situation for all those involved. ■

The decision-making body of Top Sport Austria (TSA) published the results of the evaluation of the subsidies allocated to the promotion of sports in the context of the Olympic Games in 2003 and 2004 and gave insight into its demand analysis focusing on top-level sports. “So far we have supported a total of 136 athletes belonging to 19 federal special sports associations with subsidies totalling about 2.4 million euro", Secretary of State for Sports Schweitzer was pleased to inform about the figures reaching record levels. With a view to the Olympic Games in Athens, 845,560 euro had been granted under the “Top-Level Sports” programme and 1,524,975 euro under the “Olympia” programme. This amount had also included the support of the Medical Pool at the Institut für medizinische und sport-wissenschaftliche Betratung (Institute for Medical and Sport Scientific Consultancy) as well as the financing of various transports of the Austrian Olympic Committee to/from the Olympic Games. According to the recently published evaluation results, the Olympia-specific subsidies had been allocated in 2003 and 2004 as follows: about 45% of the total subsidies were invested in training courses, roughly 21% in world cup transports, almost 10% both in sport scientific and sport medical measures, approximately 8% in equipment purchases as well as about 2% each in sport psychology and in rehabilitation measures. "With two gold and four silver medals, Austria has been significantly more successful at Olympia 2004 than at all the other Olympic Games over the past 60 years. All medallists and about 90% of all those ranked within the top ten had been supported by TSA", which, as Schweitzer concluded, was quite a successful result. The most important finding of this year’s evaluation was that in the future priority had to be given to the sector of trainers, sport psychology and the promotion of young talents. The new Federal Act on Sport Promotion and the double budget 2005/06 make available the necessary financial resources. Thanks to the considerable financial support but also to exemplary transparency, responsiveness and service functions, TSA has become an indispensable institution for top-level sports in Austria. ■