Schüssel’s key movers and shakers

Austria's players on the European scene

The Chancellor - Wolfgang Sch�ssel

Born in Vienna in the last days of the Second World War, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Sch�ssel climbed his way through the centre-right Austrian People's Party (...VP) after a detour through its affiliate organisation the Austrian Business Federation. In 1995, he became party leader and foreign minister in a social democrat-led coalition government. Sch�ssel became Federal Chancellor on 4 February 2000.

After failing to form a coalition with other mainstream parties he provoked an international outcry by agreeing to enter into a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party of J�rg Haider, repeating the act three years later with a new government. Sch�ssel's decision undoubtedly cost him any chance he had of becoming Commission president, a position he was tipped for - albeit as an outsider.

More recently he has become known for his vehement and outspoken opposition to Turkey's EU membership. Although slated for his 'isolation' over opening accession negotiations with Turkey, his government represented the view of many Austrians and at a diplomatic level the personal criticism he endured paid off. His government obtained its major tactical goal of having membership talks begin with Croatia at the same time as Turkey and before the arrest of the then fugitive war crimes indictee Ante Gotovina.

The Foreign Minister - Ursula Plassnik

Ursula Plassnik was something of a surprise choice for foreign minister when she was called in October 2004 to replace Benita Ferrero-Waldner, after the latter was named as Austria's European commissioner. At the time Plassnik was Austria's ambassador to Switzerland. She had a wealth of diplomatic and political experience but probably just as important was that she was a close confidant of Chancellor Wolfgang Sch�ssel, having headed his cabinet during his time as vice-chancellor and chancellor.

At just under 2 metres, Plassnik cut a tall but nervous figure in her early moments on the European stage. The nervousness might be put down to her long interest in the organisation that she will now help to pilot. Plassnik has a post-graduate diploma from the College of Europe in Bruges. Her education also afforded her some time in the US. Like Sch�ssel she is today known for her dogged support of Croatia's membership of the EU and for putting the Balkans high on the EU's agenda.

The Finance Minister - Karl-Heinz Grasser

As well as being a figure in Austrian high society after his marriage to the heiress of the Swarovski crystal empire in October, Karl-Heinz Grasser is also one of Austria's most visible politicians.

Still only 34, he has already spent three years as finance minister, proving an outspoken member of the Eurogroup, the gathering of finance ministers of the eurozone. He is credited with consolidating Austria's budget and has strongly criticised his European counterparts who have failed to follow suit.

Grasser first won rapid political promotion as a prot� of J�rg Haider, the leader of the Austrian Freedom Party. By the age of 24 he was the secretary-general of the party and a year later was appointed second deputy governor of Carinthia, his home region, which was Haider's power-base.

In 1998, Grasser left politics after a dispute with Haider and went into business, working for Magna Europe. But he returned to politics in 2000, when the party joined the government in a controversial coalition with the centre-right People's Party led by Wolfgang Sch�ssel.

He became Austria's representative at the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

2005 proved a particularly trying year for the minister. He was investigated - and eventually cleared - of trying to avoid gift tax on funds that were donated and used to create a personal website. His personal reputation suffered some damage in February after he was discovered cheating on his then fianc�in pursuit of Swarovski.

The Labour Minister - Martin Bartenstein

Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour Martin Bartenstein has been in the Austrian government for ten years. Formerly minister for environment, youth and family affairs, he took on his present role in 2000.

Born in 1953, Bartenstein started out as a businessman, joining pharmaceutical company Lannacher Heilmittel in 1980 after completing a PhD in chemical science. He became managing director of the company and six years later was appointed the chief executive of Genericon Pharma.

Bartenstein began his political career in 1991 as a member of the national assembly for the centre-right People's Party. Although Austrian politics used to be largely consensual, Bartenstein has irked a few Socialists and trade unions in Austria, notably while labour minister by calling for deep pension reform and the relaxing of rules on shop opening hours.

He has also picked up a reputation for being a penny-pincher, after requesting a special discount when buying a pair of shoes from a shop in Vienna. Once the incident hit the headlines, the shop's main competitor advertised a "15% ministerial discount (and even for non-ministers)".

In Brussels Bartenstein might yet tread on a few toes over the next six months, notably over the controversial EU services directive. Last month he announced his intention to delay agreement unless it was drastically watered down.

The Interior Minister - Liese Prokop

Liese Prokop's track record suggests that she has the stamina needed for the gruelling schedule followed by ministers holding the EU's presidency. One of Austria's most distinguished athletes, she won a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.

The 64-year-old is accustomed to breaking new ground. As a pentathlete she set a world record in 1969 for the number of points scored. She became the first woman to hold the post of federal interior minister in 2004.

A year after her Olympic triumph, she entered politics by taking a seat for the centre-right Austrian People's Party in the parliament of the Lower Austria region. She held a variety of positions in that assembly before becoming the state's deputy governor in the early 1990s.

Married to handball trainer Gunnar Prokop, she has three children.

She has recently been embroiled in a row over her call to ban women clad in the hijab or veil from teaching in schools. After her comments were denounced by some members of the Muslim community, who make up 8% of Austria's 8 million-strong population, she backtracked by saying that she respected the rights of religious followers to wear particular attire.

Nonetheless, her comments secured her a nomination for an 'Islamophobe of the year' award at a ceremony held last weekend by the UK's Islamic Human Rights Commission.

The Perm Rep - Gregor Woschnagg

Gregor Woschnagg has stuck with his country's permanent representation office longer than most Brussels ambassadors.

Since moving to Belgium from Vienna in 1999, he has handled the Austrian position on issues from Turkey and the EU constitution to SMEs and the euro.

Born in Switzerland, the 66-year-old Woschnagg studied law in Vienna, Grenoble and Cambridge before moving to the College of Europe in Bruges as a postgraduate in 1965.

After a brief stint practising law, he moved swiftly into politics with a job at the Austrian ministry for economics and integration policy, where he stayed until 1968, only to return as deputy minister 24 years later.

His postings as a diplomat since the 1960s took Woschnagg to some of the world's more exotic corners, before landing him in Belgium six years ago.

Having focused on economics and foreign affairs in New York and Cairo, he moved to Nairobi to work on environmental issues for the UN. During his time in Kenya, Woschnagg penned a book about the country From the Indian Ocean to the Equator.

Always immaculately turned out, he has a flamboyant dress sense, occasionally sporting a cravat. When running the Brussels 20km road race in May, he wore a vivid pink shirt.

He is also set to host the presidency's Viennese ball in Brussels on 11 February.

Article is part of a European Voice Special Report previewing the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, January - June 2006 and gives a brief biography of key members of the Austrian Government - Wolfgang Schüssel, Ursula Plassnik, Karl-Heinz Grasser, Martin Bartenstein, Liese Prokop and Gregor Woschnagg.