Paneuropa Declaration on Austria and Europe
The Paneuropa Movement Austria, assembled for its General Assembly on 1 December 2017 in Graz, emphasises Austria’s unique role, as a country situated in the heart of the continent, in European politics, to set new priorities with a clear vision for a sustainable policy. Undeniably, a reform agenda is necessary, both for the country itself and for the process and goal of European unification.
Given the challenges facing the Republic of Austria in the coming years, both due to entrenched structures within the country and tasks such as the EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2018, the Paneuropa Movement Austria recommends that the Austrian Federal Government focus its work on the following points:
Making Austria fit again: This particularly includes reducing the tax and levy burden to below 30 per cent, as well as massive deregulation and a noticeable reduction in bureaucratic burdens. Individual initiative and personal responsibility must be given more scope once again.
Austria and Central Europe: Austria’s historical and cultural connection with its Central European neighbours, the cultural community of Central Europe, should form the basis of new cooperation. This would not only serve to represent common interests at EU level but also make a significant contribution to overcoming the re-emerging division between Eastern and Western Europe.
Austria and the European Union: The four fundamental freedoms formulated in the Treaties of Rome are the core of a European constitution. They serve not only to overcome national protectionism but also to limit governmental regulatory zeal. In the spirit of a Europe of freedom, we expect those responsible in Austrian politics to return to the principles of the four fundamental freedoms.
Austria and EU Enlargement: Austria is among those countries that have benefited from European unification, the overcoming of Europe’s division, and EU enlargements. Particularly among the countries of South-Eastern Europe, expectations of Austria are very high – both due to historical ties and a forward-looking policy under foreign ministers such as Dr. Alois Mock, as well as the Paneuropean Union under the leadership of Otto von Habsburg. Those responsible for Austrian European policy are therefore urged to intensify their efforts towards the EU accession of the South-Eastern European countries (referred to as the Western Balkans in EU jargon), which was already promised in Thessaloniki in 2003, and to become the first and most decisive advocate for these countries. Likewise, we expect those responsible in Austria (regardless of their political level) to increase their commitment to stability in Europe’s border regions, and to open up an EU accession perspective for unequivocally European countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.
Austria / Europe and Security: The establishment of internal and external security, alongside the creation of legal certainty, is one of the state’s core tasks. Both serve the freedom of citizens. Overcoming internal borders was the original goal of all efforts towards European unification. The creation of genuine and functional border protection must therefore be among the priorities of Austrian European policy. External borders must be protected; internal borders must remain open. The expansion of the Schengen area to include all EU countries must be implemented swiftly.
Europe of Subsidiarity: Without freedom, Europe would lose its soul, its meaning. Freedom demands responsibility. Without responsibility, there can be no freedom; without freedom, no responsibility. According to the principle of subsidiarity, responsibilities should be assigned at the lowest possible level, with the higher level intervening only if the smaller unit cannot satisfactorily perform its tasks. This principle is one of the fundamental prerequisites for European unification. The goal of European unification cannot be to elevate the national central state to the European level; rather, the goal must be to overcome the nation-state with its centralist claim to competence. Europe must gain competence where this competence – as, for example, in foreign and security policy – can unfold sovereignty. At the same time, however, the sovereignty of citizens, their ability to unfold their freedom and responsibility, must be strengthened. The goal is not the extensive paternalistic welfare state that regulates and redistributes as many areas of life as possible at the state level, but rather personal freedom and responsibility, family autonomy, freedom of religion, private property, a free economy, etc.
Subsidiarity demands not a primacy of politics, but a primacy of law and freedom.
Graz, 1 December 2017
