Irish Election are pleased to announce our collection of Irish 
Lisbon a Austrian perspective
Read more about: Europe, Lisbon Treaty, Lisbon Treaty
I got this email from Georg Pichler of rigardi.org and I thought I would pass it on.
As you might have heard the governmenting parties, Social Democrats (SPOE) and Conservatives (OEVP) have decided to end their coalition. After 1 1/2 years of constant quarrel and hardly any progress, the Social Democrats have decided to switch their EU policy from “no vote necessary, the parliament’s elected to handle this” to “no altering of Lisbon or accepting any new contract without asking the Austrian people” with a letter to Austria’s biggest and mightiest newspaper (boulevard), the “Kronen Zeitung”, shortly after weakening their own chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, who has become highly unpopular among the voters aswell as in his own party and is carrying a stigma as opportunist after failing to realize some important promises from the 2006 election campaign.
The Kronen Zeitung was running Anti-EU campaigns throughout the Lisbon ratifications, they are running a right-wing course concerning migration and similar topics, and they were subtly supporting Heinz-Christian Strache from the “Liberal Party” (FPOE, but “liberal” does not really get the sense of it), which is considered to be far right-wing. Compared by the population in the area of distribution and market share, the “Kronen Zeitung” is the most powerful newspaper in the world.
Shortly after, the negotiations about a reform of the health system (some of the public health insurances [compulsory membership] are close to bankruptcy) failed with both parties blaming each other. One day later the Vice-Chancellor Wilhelm Molterer declared the coalition as broken, putting the EU policy change of the SPOE in the foreground. The coalition should’ve originally lasted till 2010, but now new elections were arranged for September 28th and the campaigns are about starting. One or another protest party might emerge, so by now it is not clear, how many serious participants there will be in the end. But there are now these positions in the EU topic:
Conservatives: We don’t need any referendum, the national parliaments were elected, so they shall deal with Lisbon. Pro EU.
The Greens: Not supporting a national referendum, but a EU-wide referendum. Pro EU.
Social Democrats: Formerly same position as Conservatives. Now supporting a national referendum in case of major changes on Lisbon or a new contract. Still, Pro EU.
FPOE: Strongly longing for a national referendum. Contra EU.
BZOE (”Alliance for the future of Austria”, Haider/Westenthaler): Strongly longing for a national referendum. Contra EU. This party emerged from a Haider-powered FPOE split-off in 2005.
Considering the recent history of the government’s end, the EU could become a big issue in the election campaign for September.
thanks, interesting post. the significance of an “old” European country like Austria weighing in against the treaty would be very serious for the long term prospects of the lisbon treaty but would be a while away yet I think. The FPOE is, I think, better know as the Freedom party run by Haider,as noted, up to a few years ago. Their inclusion in govt. and the EU’s intervention into Austrtian national politics probably was the first signal that the EU was starting to really push against specific expressions of national authority that it found objectionable. Disregard the politics of the freedom party for a moment and what occurred was a collective punishment of a nation for how it choose to vote. it probably never received press from that angle because many felt the freedom party was beyond regular politics and such intervention was justifed. But was it. I wonder how much the lisbon treaty will crop up in the election and whether it will be a referendum lite on lisbon.
You’re right. The correct english term for the FPOE would be “freedom party”, I translated it word-by-word and not word-by-sense. However, Joerg Haider is part of the 2005 split-off fraction, he founded it and is now chief of the Carinthian division of the party.
I think what matters like this illustrate is that Ireland is not alone in its misgivings about Lisbon and the fact that we were the only country in the EU getting a referendum on it. The elites ran away from the idea of referenda after France and Holland voted no to the EU Constitution, which is 95% identical to Lisbon on the admission of Cowen, Bertie and many other leaders like Giscard d’Estaing. If the elites want to create a Federal Europe, then it’s incumbent on them to have direct popular consent for this. What is all the more disgraceful is that the politicians pushing this outside of Ireland in some cases were actually elected on an anti-EU Constitution/Lisbon ticket, including the Dutch Labour party which is part of the Coalition govt in Holland. You can’t blame the people there and in France (where Sarkozy is crashing in the polls) for feeling cheated. I think we need to stand up for democracy by continuing to resist this Treaty being foisted on us and the rest of Europe in its current form, especially in the absence of direct consultation in the remaining member states.
“Collective punishment”
How so?
The EU froze diplomatic realtions with Austria in an attempt to force the freedom party out. While they might have had reservations with members of the govt. they effectively targeted the Austrian nation by freezing relations with its elected govt. I dont see how that is anything other than a punishment/pressure on the Austrian nation. While the impact might ultimately have been small (as far as I know) Austria as a nation did not, for a period, enjoy the same level of diplomatic interaction in the EU as other members based on how it voted in a general election. A dismal precedent.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/917099.stm
Future Taoiseach. You’ll be glad to know that the Ducth labour party is languishing in the polls. Something like a twenty year low if i recall correctly. their pseudo-charismatic leader Wouter Bos is proving uninspiring to the electorate and they would only get about 15 seats out of the 150 odd available at the moment. Similar to Austria the hard right is on the march in holland. between Trots van Nederland and Geert Wilder’s Partij voor de Vrijheide they would have about 35 seats out of the 150 odd. Off the top of my head the labour party might be only 5th or 6th if an election were held amarach.
The government, especially the former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel/OEVP, managed to spin it so far, that most of the people (expect those who principally oppose the FPOE, which are the minority - sadly) saw them, again especially the OEVP, as kind of martyrs. What followed was a major 44% win when the OEVP-FPOE coalition broke in 2002 due to FPOE internal disputes. Nevertheless, after the elections they tried it again and the result was the Haider split off from the FPOE by founding the BZOE. From 2000 to 2006 the OEVP adopted more and more policies from the FPOE (later BZOE), which situates them clearly right from the middle in questions of migration and asylum.
To get back on topic: I dont believe that the sanctions where the right reaction, eventhough I do not believe that a far right-wing party (in many parts belonging to the extreme right imo) should be part of a government. It was quite likely that this would do more damage than it helped, and after all it might have laid the ground to the galloping EU scepticism in Austria.
As far as I know, the impact on the people of Austria was pretty close to nil, which is why I supported the move. Nazis are Nazis. So long as that kind of directed action is reserved for those kind of situations, I’m happy. And besides, I may be wrong, but I believe the decision was made by the member states and not the EU itself.
Whatever the result in Austria, I think it was important that we made it clear to all political parties in the EU that alliances with right-wing fascists would not be ignored.
Well, dont like them aswell, but they came into that government by democratic elections (whichs is of course alarming).
Eventhough Austria was sanctioned formally by 28 states it was effectively sold and is still known as the EU sanctions, and there is quite a number of people who still believe that they were “dictated by Brussels”. After all it was also some kind of inconsequence that made the afterglow of these sanctions were damaging. If you remember the OEVP-FPOE coalition was just the beginning, as other coalitions with far right-wing parties in Europe followed, but none of them were sanctioned.
I think the BZOE will change their Contra EU opinion soon, because they are interested in a coalition with the Peoples Party (Conservatives) in the next government.
They announced that they “would form a coalition with everyone if good work is possible”. Still it is next door to impossible that they would dramatically change their EU course as they were also doing a lot of campaigning for a referendum and against Lisbon.
Dearest One,
I am miss Delphine Hanks , 21 years old from ivory coast . Only child/Daughter of Mrs Binta Hanks. I have 9.5 million USD which was made by my mother before she died in Oct 2006 which is left in a security company here in my country.
I seek your permission to remit this amount to your country so that I could come to your country for investment and to further my studies. I have accepted to offer you 20% of the total sum for your desire to assist me.
Please do respond to my email below immediately you receive this mail for more information痴 regarding the trunk box.
My Best Regards.
Miss Delphine Hanks.
Well god knows we will need it Daphne. Any donations to Irish Govt, care of FF. Please mark as Political donations political use only.
Simon any chance Georg might be able to do a second snap-shot of Austria.
I came across an article today about the tussle between the right there and it seems to be building into a lively competition. Especially with the right looking to mandate future EU referendums constitutionally.
Tie in with Juncker’s advise to delay the Irish referendum then its still a rocky road.