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P 091348Z FEB 07
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UNCLAS VIENNA 000328 
 
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SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/AGS, INR/EU, AND EUR/PPD FOR YVETTE SAINT-ANDRE 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO AU OPRC
 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS: February 09, 2007 
 
Less Bureaucracy:  Government Put On A Diet 
 
¶1. Starting Friday, the SPOe/OeVP coalition will begin working on an 
extensive reform of state and government which, according to 
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, will be the "core piece" of the grand 
coalition and is intended for completion in summer. The reform will 
build on reforms announced and partly implemented during the last 
legislative period. The reform is supposed to save 1.8 billion Euro 
in public funds by 2010. The project was presented by 
Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer on Thursday. 
Critics say this project was first introduced by his predecessor 
Karl-Heinz Grasser in May 2006 and that, therefore, the current 
government is just sticking to old plans. 
The reform project details that bureaucracy demands on companies 
will be cut by one-fourth by 2010, writes independent daily "Der 
Standard." The Netherlands and Denmark have models to reduce 
bureaucratic costs for enterprises - it is one aspect of a "better 
regulation" scheme, which Germany is also thinking about adopting. 
On Thursday, Molterer was reticent on the negotiations with the 
individual ministries about the double budget 2007/2008. He only 
repeated that a rigid budget policy would be implemented to create 
some room for tax relief measures in 2010. Molterer also refused to 
give details about the budget deficit for 2006 except to say it 
might be lower than it was previously thought to be. 
 
EU Presents Joint Energy Policy Concept in Vienna 
 
¶2. On Friday, EU Commissioner for Energy Policy, Andres Piebalgs, 
who is in Vienna to meet with Austrian Minister for Economy and 
Labor Martin Bartenstein, will present a joint EU energy concept, 
which will be the foundation of an EU energy policy. EU goals are to 
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demand by 20 
percent each. 
 
Plassnik Outlines European Policy of New Coalition 
 
¶3. In an interview with mass circulation daily "Kurier," Minister 
for European and International Affairs Ursula Plassnik presented the 
Austrian position with regard to issues such as security, EU policy, 
climate protection, and Kosovo. With regard to Kosovo, Plassnik said 
Austria was prepared to go beyond its current commitment and make a 
civilian contribution to the EU presence there, pointing out that 
there are already 600 Austrian troops stationed in Kosovo, plus a 
police contingent of 40 persons. 
With regard to the EU constitution, the Austrian Minister for 
European and International Affairs was optimistic:  The fact that 18 
countries have already ratified the constitutional draft was an 
important political signal, Plassnik said, and added that it was 
necessary to get clarity with regard to the legal basis of the 
constitution by 2009 at the latest. However, the constitution was 
not the only issue with regard to the EU: In the Minister's view, it 
is necessary to make concrete European projects and results clearer 
and more transparent for the citizens. In view of the current debate 
about climate change, Plassnik also pointed to the EU summit in 
March where the foreign policy component of the energy policy will 
be an important issue. 
 
Controversial Appearance in the US 
 
¶4. Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schnborn has made a controversial 
appearance in the US. At a lecture in New York, he once again 
defended the doctrine of intelligent design, according to which the 
development of the species has its origin in God's will, and not in 
the randomness of Darwinian evolution. This is a highly 
controversial issue in the US. 
 
Agreement Between Hamas and Fatah 
 
¶5. On Thursday evening, the Palestine groups Hamas and Fatah agreed 
to form a government of national unity. The "declaration of Mecca," 
signed in a formal ceremony by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 
and acting Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, agrees to a division of 
power, with  Hamas retaining the Prime Minister and getting six more 
government positions. Another six ministries will be led by Fatah 
and five ministries will be given to independent experts. The 
question of a recognition of Israel, which Hamas has so far refused, 
was apparently not included in the document. 
With regard to Hamas' attitude towards Israel, moderate Palestinian 
President Abbas called on the new government to respect 
international law and the previous agreements between the PLO and 
Israel. Semi-official daily "Wiener Zeitung" reports that, before 
the agreement was signed, a tentative solution with regard to Israel 
had surfaced, according to which the radical Hamas will respect the 
previous agreements as long as they are not "in opposition to 
Palestinian interests." However, Abbas insists on Hamas adhering to 
the treaties so as to achieve an end of Western sanctions. The 
agreement between Hamas and Fatah had been mediated by Saudi 
Arabia's King Abdullah, who put some pressure on both parties to 
stop the fighting, writes the daily. 
 
Burden of Majority 
 
¶6. The US Democrats, which had toyed with the idea of initiating 
impeachment procedures against President Bush before the November 
2006 congressional elections, are apparently now backing off. The 
election outcome, which brought the Democrats a majority in both the 
House and the Senate, would offer at least a theoretical chance for 
a successful impeachment. While top Democratic leaders, such as 
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, reject the idea of initiating 
impeachment procedures, some Democrats believe there are sufficient 
grounds for impeachment:  the Iraq war, the decision to allow the 
NSA to spy on US citizens, etc. 
Pressure from the base is increasing:  Centrist daily "Die Presse" 
cites a recent poll conducted by MSNBC in which 419,000 persons 
participated; of those, 87 percent thought procedures to impeach the 
President should be initiated.  The Democratic headquarter gets 
hundreds of emails, faxes from people calling for impeachment and 
there are internet forums where the Democrats are criticized for not 
being resolute enough in proceeding against Bush. The campaign has 
apparently had some effect on the Democratic Chairman of the Justice 
Committee in the House of Representatives John Conyers. He initiated 
a study investigating whether the President indeed has the right to 
ignore the law in its fight against terror. "Die Presse" quotes 
Conyers as saying:  "The government abuses its power, and Congress 
cannot simply tolerate this." Other media, such as the "New York 
Times" have already concluded that Bush is a lame duck, and was 
indeed "fired in the last election," as a "New York times" columnist 
put it. 
 
North Korea Signals Compromise 
 
¶7. It is just a small signal so far, but the Stalinist regime in 
Pyongyang has finally shown movement on the nuclear issue. At the 
beginning of a new round of Six-Party-talks, the North Koreans 
indicated readiness to revive a 2005 agreement which essentially 
provides for an end to the controversial nuclear program in exchange 
for economic assistance. US chief negotiator Christopher Hill is 
optimistic that this is a "good first step." 
Centrist daily "Die Presse" gives details of the North Korean 
conditions for a compromise: Apparently, Kim Jong-Il demands not 
just oil deliveries but also a concrete promise regarding the 
building of a light-water reactor, which had first been offered in 
September 2005. In addition, North Korea demands the US lift the 
freeze on 24 million US dollars on North Korean accounts in Macao 
and take the first steps in the direction of normalization of the 
relations between Washington and Pyongyang. Allegedly, the US has 
offered to lift trade barriers and remove North Korea from the list 
of states that support terrorism. China also has a strong interest 
in the progress of the Six-Party-talks - "Die Presse" quoted 
disarmament expert Teng Jianqun as asserting that it was China's 
first priority to preserve stability in the North East Asian region 
and avoid any unrest or bellicose confrontations on the Korean 
peninsula. "History has shown that China will be drawn into any war 
in the region," Teng said. He believes the dispute about North 
Korea's nuclear program can only be resolved if all parties focus on 
the technical aspects of North Korea's disarmament and stopped 
mixing political, economic or ideological issues in with the talks. 
McCaw