April 06, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Austria would reject a move to withdraw their country from the European Union (EU), according to a poll by OGM. 61 per cent of respondents oppose leaving the 27-member body.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Austria would reject a move to withdraw their country from the European Union (EU), according to a poll by OGM. 61 per cent of respondents oppose leaving the 27-member body.

Austria has been a member of the EU since 1995 and adopted the euro in 1999. It last held the EU’s rotating presidency in 2006.

In October 2006, Austrian voters renewed the Federal Council. Final results gave the Democratic Party of Austria (SPO) 35.71 per cent of the vote and 68 lawmakers, followed by the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP) with 34.33 per cent and 66 legislators. In January 2007, SPO leader Gusenbauer was formally sworn in as the country’s new federal chancellor, heading a coalition government encompassing the SPO and the OVP.

The EU has launched a plan to create the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a network of universities to be built across Europe. In February, Gusenbauer and Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico submitted a joint bid for Viena and Bratislava to host the EIT’s headquarters. Both leaders said the EIT would benefit from having offices in the two cities, which they described as an "economic boom zone."

Polling Data

Do you support or oppose Austria withdrawing from the European Union (EU)?

Support	29%
Oppose	61%
No opinion	10%

Source: OGM
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 500 Austrian voters, conducted on Mar. 30, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.