Center Austria and the World Affairs Council of New Orleans presented a talk by
Dr. Erhard Busek
Former Vice Chancellor, Federal Minister for Science and Research, and Federal Minister for Education, Republic of Austria
European Identity - How to combine Unity and Variety?
When: March 1, 2010, 3.00 pm
Where: TRAC, Room 101
Dr. Erhard Busek meets with Austrian students at the University of New Orleans after briefing them on the European Forum Alpbach.
Dr. Erhard Busek was born in Vienna, Austria, on March 25, 1941. He received his law degree from the University of Vienna in 1963. He began his professional career in 1964 as legal adviser to the association of the parliamentarians of the Austrian People’s Party.
He then served as Secretary General of the Austrian Federation for Trade and Commerce (1968-1975). In 1975 he was appointed Secretary General of the Austrian People’s Party and was elected Member of Parliament later that year. Erhard Busek gained additional experience in administration between 1968-1976 while with a publishing firm in the economic field.In 1976 Mr. Busek entered municipal politics. He was City Councilor and was elected Deputy-Mayor of Vienna in 1978, a position he held until 1987.
He was appointed Minister for Science and Research in April 1989. From 1994 until May 1995 Dr. Busek was Minister for Education. He was elected Chairman of the Austrian People’s Party in 1991 and served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 1991 to 1995. In early 2000 Dr. Erhard Busek was appointed as Special Representative of the Austrian Government on EU-Enlargement. He served in that position until December 2001.
Since January 2002 Mr. Busek serves as Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. Furthermore he is the Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI); Chairman of the “Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe” and President of the European Forum Alpbach. He is the author of many books, among themProjekt Mitteleuropa (1986), and Eine Seele für Europa – Aufgaben für einen Kontinent (2008).