Austria as member of the European Union

Since 1995, Austria has been a member of the European Union. Austria has widely benefited from joining the EU : 

• Foreign direct investments have increased three-fold between 1995 and 2005.
• Austria's exports have been more than doubled in the same time period.
• Since 2002, Europa has had a common currency (Euro) based on an economic and monetray union. This has led to both reduced budget deficits and diminished public debt in Europe.
• Austria greatly benefits from EU enlargement. The fall of Communism in Eastern Europa has brought about around 57,000 additional jobs in Austria. Till 2010, another 27,500 jobs will be created (Source: WIFO).
• Austria's security situation has improved dramatically since the ten new member states joined the EU on May 1, 2004. The EU's external borders, followed by the Schengen borders later on, have been pushed further to the east. The burden formerly placed on Austria's border control institutions has been vastly diminished.
• Its membership in the European Union has given Austria the right to fully participate in all important decisions that have been taken by the EU since 1995 (Treaty of Amsterdam, Treaty of Nice, EU enlargement, EU constitution).

During the membership negotiations with the new EU countries that joined in 2004, Austria initiated together with Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland the "Regional Partnership." It shall help its member states to better coordinate their common interests within the EU. The most visible expression of this cooperation is the "Cultural Platform of Central Europe."