EU inches towards easing Austrian sanctions

Date: 22/06/2000

By Simon Taylor

THE Portuguese presidency is planning to present a strategy for ending the diplomatic sanctions on Austria within the next week.

But EU diplomats say French reluctance to ease the sanctions imposed against the government in Vienna means the measures will not be relaxed until the first half of next year at the earliest.

Danish Prime Minister Poul Rasmussen said at this week's summit that he expected Portuguese Premier Antonio Guterres to unveil proposals for easing the sanctions before the end of Lisbon's Union presidency on 30 June.

The plan, which Guterres has already discussed with EU leaders, involves each of the next two countries which will hold the presidency - France and Sweden - assessing the situation in Austria in a particular area of human and democratic rights, with the treatment of immigrants cited by officials as a possible test. If the presidency judged Vienna had met Union standards in those areas, it could recommend relaxing sanctions.

Diplomats predict that Guterres' strategy will only be acceptable to Austria if it avoids using the word "monitoring", which is seen as more interference in domestic affairs, and if the assessment is carried out in full consultation with the Austrian government. Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel has insisted that his administration must be involved in whatever process is used to decide whether the sanctions should be eased.

But few expect the diplomatic freeze to end until after Sweden takes over the EU presidency next January, given Paris' steadfast refusal to agree to any easing of the sanctions. French officials confirmed this week that their government would only be prepared to relax the penalties if the Freedom Party proved it had made a clean break with its xenophobic and extremist past. They pointed to statements by new Freedom Party leader Suzanne Riess-Passer that the party still belonged to its demagogic former head Jörg Haider as evidence that the party is still clinging to its old traditions.

Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs Seixas da Costa also stressed that any change to the sanctions would depend on the Freedom Party changing its stance rather than on the EU-14 backtracking on their decision.

"There is nothing new from the Austrian side which could change the position of the 14. One should ask if it is not time to ask Austria to move," he said in Feira, adding the most anyone could expect in the near future was a "technical adjustment" - a remark which was interpreted as reference to the new strategy.

But Freedom Party politicians insisted this week that they had no intention of bowing to Union leaders' demands. "Anyone who expects the Freedom Party to change is totally mistaken," said MEP Peter Sichrovsky.