Austrian Crisis
Austrian Crisis in Europe
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Description of Austrian crisis
The Concise Publication of the European Union describes austrian crisis in the following terms: [1] Early in 2000 a sudden crisis erupted in the EU when the Eurosceptic Freedom Party of Jorg Haider was admitted to government in Austria as a junior coalition partner of the centre right People's Party. Haider had been guilty of strident anti-immigrant speeches and of occasional favourable references to the Nazis, but his platform of political and economic reform was probably the main reason for his popularity with the electorate (see more in this European publication). Thus it came as a shock when the 14 other EU member states, apparently without consulting the Commission, announced a diplomatic boycott of Austria. The prime mover was President Jacques Chirac of France, perhaps actuated by a wish to discredit the French extreme right, but governments of every hue joined in. Much of the reaction was exaggerated: Belgium, for example, threatened Austria with expulsion from the Eu (see more in this European publication). Hypocrisy and guilt, too, were in the air - some of the complaining governments owed their own majorities to coalitions with communists and it seemed at times that the Western democracies were seeking to atone painlessly for their failure to resist Hitler's accession to power 65 years earlier (see more in this European publication). Israel's decision to withdraw its ambassador was understandable, but when the USA followed suit (doubtless with an eye to the forthcoming US presidential election) Austria's isolation was complete (see more in this European publication). The Commission itself, mindful that neither Haider nor his party had broken any Community law, took no action. In Austria there was outrage at the EU's interference with the country's choice expressed legitimately through the ballot box.
The affair was revealing on several different levels. It suggested that Euroscepticism was close to being ranked as an offence warranting sanctions; it was a reminder that the human rights clauses contained in the Treaty of Amsterdam were susceptible of elastic - and politicised - interpretation; and it marked a step towards the EU claiming to be a superior political entity entitled to dictate terms to its member states. (See also Haider.)
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Notas y References
Based on the book "A Concise Publication of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein", by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)
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