Erhard Busek

Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe

(Official Website, EurActiv.com, European Forum Alpbach 2002)

Former Austrian Vice Chancellor Erhard Busek assumed the position of Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe on 1 January 2002.

In 1963 he received a degree in law from the University of Vienna. He began his professional career in 1964, serving as legal advisor to the association of parliamentarians of the Austrian People's Party. After 1968, Busek worked in various positions, including secretary general of the Austrian Federation for Trade and Commerce; secretary general of the Austrian People's Party; deputy mayor of Vienna; minister of Science and Research and Minister of Education.

In 1991, he was elected chairman of the Austrian People's Party. Busek was Austria's vice chancellor from 1991 to 1995. He has been president of the Austrian College since April 2000.

On 12 November 2001, the EU foreign ministers appointed Busek to succeed German diplomat Bodo Hombach as Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact. At the time of his appointment, Busek was editor of the Wiener Journal monthly newspaper, chairman of the Institute for the Danube and Central Europe, member of the EU Committee on Education, and co-ordinator of the Southeast European Co-operative Initiative (SECI).

Busek has delivered many lectures on different foreign and domestic policy issues, and at the time of becoming the Stability Pact's Special Co-ordinator, Busek was a visiting professor of the Practice of Public Policy Studies at Duke University, and co-chairman of the Commission on Radio and Television Policy: Central and Eastern Europe.

In March 2002, Busek presented before the EU foreign ministers the Stability Pact's policy and operational priorities for the year, stressing on the need for an increased regional ownership of the Pact and greater effectiveness of the development projects, and promising more results and less talk. He also suggested a shift in policy -- instead of having big projects with complex and long implementation, Busek preferred to see smaller and concrete projects that could be implemented quickly and aimed at strengthening cross-border co-operation. Some of the other priorities Busek outlined included solving energy and border problems and promoting refugee return and integration. The new special co-ordinator also urged the EU to work out a "clear roadmap" for the Balkan states' EU integration.

Busek, born 25 March 1941 in Vienna, is the author of many publications, and the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa has been bestowed on him by the several universities, including the Polish University of Krakow an the Slovak University of Bratislava.