Austria in the European Union

In a historic referendum in June 1994, Austrian voters indicated their desire to join the EU, and in January 1995 Austria became a member. The following year, Austrians commemorated 1,000 years of common history. The festivities highlighted Austria’s stature in Europe historically, while the country’s increased regional cooperation underscored its current role in newly restructured Europe.

The Austrian economy, however, was not yet ready to meet EU criteria for financial stability. Further austerity measures were launched as Austria prepared to adopt the single European currency, the euro. In 1999 the majority of EU members began to replace their national currency with the euro, and by 2002 Austria, with its economy once again among the strongest in Europe, retired the schilling.

Meanwhile, the ongoing concern about immigration paralleled fears of foreign (particularly German) ownership of Austrian businesses, especially as Austria began privatizing more state-owned operations. Reflective of these fears was the ascendancy of Freedom Party leader Jörg Haider, whose extreme brand of conservatism regularly drew international censure but whose party narrowly eclipsed the Austrian People’s Party in the parliamentary elections of 1999. By 2000 the People’s Party had deserted the weakened Social Democratic Party to form a right-of-centre coalition government with the Freedom Party. The participation of the Freedom Party in the government brought condemnation from both the Austrian left and the international community, and the EU imposed sanctions on Austria. This move backfired within the country, where the governing parties mobilized patriotic support by portraying Austria as the victim of an international conspiracy. By the end of 2000 the EU had withdrawn its sanctions.

The government was buoyed by a surging economy, but the Freedom Party, inexperienced in matters of state and beset by internal turmoil, stumbled in the 2002 elections. Its losses were primarily the gains of the Austrian People’s Party, which became the largest party for the first time in 36 years. But rather than renewing its traditional partnership with the Social Democrats, it again formed a coalition with the Freedom Party in 2003.

The Freedom Party splintered in 2005 as Haider and other leaders left to form a new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria. The split followed a period of especially acrimonious fighting between moderate members and hard-liners over the party’s direction. The Alliance for the Future of Austria replaced the Freedom Party as the junior partner in the coalition government.

In 2006 the Social Democrats won an unexpected victory in the parliamentary elections, narrowly defeating the Austrian People’s Party. In January 2007 those two parties formed a coalition government, with Alfred Gusenbauer of the Social Democrats as chancellor. However, the unpopularity of Gusenbauer, who was perceived as an ineffective leader, as well as disputes over social policy, soon weakened the coalition. It collapsed in July 2008 following the withdrawal of the People’s Party. Parliamentary elections held that September—the first in which 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote—resulted in a narrow win for the Social Democrats over the People’s Party. However, the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria enjoyed a resurgence: combined votes for the two right-wing parties exceeded those for the People’s Party. Nevertheless, the Social Democrats and the People’s Party agreed to form a new coalition government, excluding the far right, in November 2008. Werner Faymann of the Social Democrats was selected as chancellor.

The most pressing concern for the “grand coalition” was the precarious state of the European economy. Beginning in 2009, the euro-zone debt crisis acted as a persistent drag on Austria’s economic health, as consumer confidence sagged and exports declined. The Austrian financial sector was heavily exposed to the southern European economies that were at the centre of the debt crisis, and the government adopted a policy of robust intervention to shore up the country’s ailing banks. Faced with these challenges, the coalition exhibited a degree of cooperation unseen in previous years, as it implemented a series of austerity measures designed to bring Austria’s deficit into compliance with the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact. These policies, which included a public-sector wage freeze and a package of tax increases, did little to endear either of the ruling parties to voters, and each saw a steady erosion of support in state and local elections.

While the economy showed signs of stabilizing in 2011, corruption scandals and a leadership vacancy in the People’s Party fueled support for the Freedom Party. Although it remained outside the government, the Freedom Party’s Euroskeptic and anti-immigrant rhetoric influenced discussions at the national level, and the party ranked even or ahead of the ruling parties in opinion polls. Controversial statements made by Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache drew criticism from the mainstream parties. Those denouncements intensified in August 2012, after Strache posted a cartoon to the social media site Facebook that was widely characterized as anti-Semitic. Support for the Freedom Party was diluted when Austrian-born Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach announced in September 2012 that he was forming a new political party. Called Team Stronach, the party promoted an antiestablishment, pro-business agenda that favoured lower corporate taxes and disengagement from the weaker euro-zone economies. The Freedom Party suffered a series of reverses in regional elections in 2013, and it was unable to capitalize on a collapse in support for the Social Democrats in Salzburg. A financial scandal there triggered early elections, and the Greens, running on an anti-corruption platform, boosted their national standing with an impressive finish in the last regional contest before the scheduled September 2013 general election.

That election saw the “grand coalition” returned to power, with Faymann as chancellor, albeit with a slightly reduced majority. The Freedom Party posted a strong third-place finish, ahead of the Greens, Team Stronach, and the neoliberal New Austria (NEOS). Low unemployment and a stable economy had fueled support for the governing parties, but a worsening migrant crisis, the military conflict in Ukraine, and a series of terrorist attacks on European soil caused that foundation to erode throughout 2014–15. In January 2016 Austria suspended its participation in the Schengen Agreement, reintroducing border controls in an effort to stem the tide of refugees (principally fleeing turmoil in Syria, elsewhere in the Middle East, and in Africa).

Many dismissed that effort as too little, too late, as evidenced by the Freedom Party’s landslide victory in the first round of presidential balloting in April 2016. Although the office of president was largely ceremonial, the rejection of the two ruling parties—both of which had failed to advance to the runoff election—signaled a major shift in the mood of the Austrian electorate. Stating that he had lost the support of his party, Faymann announced his resignation in May 2016. The second round of the presidential election, held on May 22, was narrowly won by Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen. The closeness of the outcome led the Freedom Party to challenge the results, and Austria’s Constitutional Court ruled that irregularities had occurred in a majority of polling districts. The election was annulled and rescheduled for October 2016, but faulty glue on postal ballots forced the postponement of the election until December. On December 4, 2016, Van der Bellen won a clear victory, capturing 54 percent of the vote and offering a glimmer of hope to Europe’s centre-left at a time of growing support for far right and Euroskeptic parties.

In May 2017 a deadlock over policy within the “grand coalition” led Social Democrat Chancellor Christian Kern to call for early elections. Support for the Freedom Party remained high, but the People’s Party, under telegenic new leader Sebastian Kurz, tacked hard right in the months prior to the election and embraced much of the Freedom Party’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Kurz, who had served as foreign minister in the “grand coalition” government, revived the flagging fortunes of the mainstream conservative party, and he carried it to victory in the general election held on October 15, 2017. The Social Democrats were second, and the Freedom Party finished a strong third. Party infighting led to the spectacular collapse of the Greens, who, for the first time in nearly four decades, failed to clear the 4 percent threshold necessary for parliamentary representation. After months of talks, the People’s Party and Freedom Party agreed to form a coalition, and in December 2017 Kurz, at age 31, became Europe’s youngest head of government. Before swearing in the new chancellor, Van der Bellen took the extraordinary step of securing a pledge to maintain Austria’s pro-EU stance and to acknowledge the country’s responsibility for the scourge of Nazism.