AUSTRIA: COALITION PARTIES AGREE TO HOLD NON-BINDING REFERENDUM ON SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY OTHER EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES
Record ID:
584857
AUSTRIA: COALITION PARTIES AGREE TO HOLD NON-BINDING REFERENDUM ON SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY OTHER EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES
- Title: AUSTRIA: COALITION PARTIES AGREE TO HOLD NON-BINDING REFERENDUM ON SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY OTHER EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES
- Date: 5th July 2000
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JULY 4 2000)(REUTERS) 1. MV JOURNALISTS IN PARLIAMENT 0.04 2. SCU MINISTERS WALK INTO COALITION MEETING (2 SHOTS) 0.13 3. SCU SIGN SAYING MINISTERS MEETING ROOM 0.17 4. SOUNDBITE(German) FAR-RIGHT LEADER, JOERG HAIDER "If sanctions are not lifted there will be no cooperation from Austria. There are EU agreements that say 15 states must decide unanimously. These agreements have to be stuck to. If the French presidency does not keep to the treaty, we won't be able to support important decisions 0.42 5. MV HAIDER WALKS OFF 0.46 6. MV WOLFGANG SCHUESSEL CHANCELLOR AND SUZANNA REISS VICE CHANCELLOR AT NEWSCONFERENCE (3 SHOTS) 0.59 7. SOUNDBITE (German) SCHUESSEL "I am disappointed and hoped that the Portuguese presidency would have been able to provide a concrete plan for ending sanctions. Unfortunately that was not the case. The plan he presented does not include an end to sanctions, not even a date for when the panel of three independent personalities which he proposed should present a report. We will cooperate with this panel, that is without question and it was discussed at the coalition meeting but we will go ahead with the referendum planned for the autumn according to our plan of action. It will go to parliament and hopefuilly be approved on July 11th." 1.57 8. SCU JOURNALISTS' TAPE RECORDER RUNNING/SCU JOURNALISTS; MV PRESS CONFERENCE (4 SHOTS) 2.14 9. SOUNDBITE (German) SCHUESSEL "We hope the report will be presented as soon as possible, in this case the most likely date (for the referendum) if the sanctions are not lifted would be 26th november. It is clear that if sanctions ended before the parliamentary sessions we will distance ourselves from a referendum. 2.41 10. SCU JOURNALISTS (3 SHOTS) 2.56 11. SOUNDBITE (German) SCHUESSEL "(talking about the referendum) the phrase 'all suitable means' did not amount to a blockade threat. We are not aiming to obstruct anything, but rather to achieve something important and positive." 3.17 12. SLV NEWS CONFERENCE ENDS 3.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th July 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Reuters ID: LVA8R51CKX16WY28PX5TZVSKB8JJ
- Story Text: Austria's coalition parties agreed on Tuesday to hold
a non-binding referendum in the autumn on sanctions imposed on
Vienna by other European Union countries after the far-right
Freedom Party entered government.
Conservative Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said a
referendum would be held on October 29 or November 26 unless
the sanctions, which amount to a refusal by the other 14
governments to meet Austrian ministers, were lifted in the
meantime.
The 14 countries, which regard the Freedom Party as racist
and xenophobic, are worried that a referendum could whip up
anti-EU sentiment in the Alpine republic.
Far-right leader Joerg Haider earlier renewed a threat to
block European Union reform as long as the sanctions remained,
but Schuessel said it was not in Austria's interests to do so.
After a meeting of the coalition committee, Schuessel said
he was disappointed that a plan for ending Vienna's isolation
-- under which a panel of "three wise men" will report on
Austria's compliance with common European values -- did not
contain a concrete timetable.
"We will commence a referendum in line with our plan of
action," he told reporters.
The Austrian government has in effect challenged the panel
to report by October 13, when EU leaders are due to gather in
the French town of Biarritz for a summit.
If it does not complete its work by then -- and the
sanctions remain in place -- the referendum will be held in
November. In the absence of a report, or a timetable, the
October date will be chosen.
If the referendum goes ahead, voters will be asked to
answer a six-part question with a single "yes" or "no". The
first part is: "Should the government, as part of the
impending reform of the EU Treaty, ensure with all suitable
means that the sanctions unjustly imposed on Austria by the
other member states of the European Union are immediately
lifted."
The other parts of the question ask voters to support
efforts to safeguard the rights of smaller EU states, to
guarantee the right to free and democratic elections, to boost
the role of regions, to oblige EU institutions to observe the
rule of law and human rights and to include a legal procedure
in the EU treaty to deal with alleged violations of EU values.
The sanctions have had almost no economic impact, but the
stand-off has overshadowed EU business and threatens to delay
institutional reform and enlargement.
Haider said earlier that a failure to lift the sanctions
would amount to a violation of EU treaties and a denial of the
cooperation Austria was entitled to expect from its partners.
"The treaty must be observed and if it is not observed
under the French presidency, then we will be unable to support
important decisions," he told reporters, referring to vital
reforms that France wants to steer through during its
six-month stint in the EU presidency, which began on Saturday.
But Schuessel said that Austria was the last country that
wanted to see the EU reform effort halted and told reporters
after the coalition committee meeting that the phrase "all
suitable means" did not amount to a blockade threat.
"We are not aiming to obstruct anything, but rather to
achieve something important and positive," he said.
Haider, provincial governor of Carinthia, still dominates
the Freedom Party although he formally resigned as its leader
in May. He remains a member of the coalition committee.
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