Abstract
This working paper investigates the salience of and the position on Differentiated integration (DI) for the Austrian government. The analysis is based on both an analysis of government programmes, programmatic government speeches and parliamentary debates between 2004 and 2019/20. It shows that DI is overall not a salient issue in Austria, at least with regard to general DI concepts and models. Specific instances of DI were, of course, subjects of intense debates but, with very few exceptions such as the financial transaction tax as an instance of enhanced cooperation, rarely discussed with specific reference to DI. Overall, most Austrian parties are also not generally in favour of DI, quite the opposite. The dominant vision of the EU is that of a community of closely cooperating Member States with the same rights and responsibilities where opt-outs are seen as cherry picking. Only one party has forcefully supported the development of a core Europe, namely the right-wing populist Bundnis Zukunft Osterreich (Alliance for the Future of Austria, BZO). In this case, however, DI is mainly regarded as a means to exclude groups of Member States (especially the financially more vulnerable or net recipients) from areas of integration.
Highlights
This report investigates the salience of differentiated integration (DI) in Austrian government discourse between 2004 and 2020
While the subsidiarity principle and concentrating on the main tasks of the European Union (EU) have always been important in Austrian discourse, the vision of the EU is that of a community of closely cooperating Member States with the same rights and responsibilities where opt-outs are seen as cherry picking
We found a number of references to instances of Differentiated integration (DI) in all the programmes, namely to security and defence policy, Schengen and Economic and Monetary Union, which are all related to the opt-out DI mechanism, and to PESCO, the financial transaction tax and the European Public Prosecutor, which are related to the enhanced cooperation DI mechanism
Summary
Differentiated integration (DI) is overall not a salient issue in Austria, at least with regard to general concepts and models. Specific instances of DI, by contrast, are far more salient for the Austrian government. This seems to be more due to the instruments themselves, rather than to their DI character. Schengen, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the Fiscal Compact and the European Public Prosecutor, to name just a few instances, were subjects of intense debates. They are rarely discussed with specific reference to DI, . The only exceptions are: the financial transaction tax (FTT), which was discussed in the context of the enhanced cooperation mechanism; regarding the opt-out mechanism, the introduction of a general opt-out option for all Member States from (certain) genetically modified organisms (GMO); and a limited domestic opt-out for hospital staff from the working time directive
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