Austria

This information is from our Brexit archives, documenting what different countries thought of the negotiations, their relationship with the UK and priorities in the negotiations.

This page was last updated in 2020.

President Chancellor	Alexander Van der Bellen (Independent, from January 2017) Sebastian Kurz (People’s Party, since January 2020)
Population	8,858,775 (2019)
Size	83,879 km² (32,385.86 sq. miles)
MEPs	19 (joined the EU in 1995)
Next presidential election Next legislative election	2022 2024
Presidency of the Council	After 2030
Last meeting with Boris Johnson	None held to date
Brexit priorities	Austria held the Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2018, when the final phase of the negotiations took place. Austria’s role was significant as it led the negotiations from the Members States’ point of view. The main priority for the Austrian government is to secure the rights of its 25,000 citizens residing in the UK. Also high on the agenda will be to ensure Austria will not have to fill the EU budget gap left by the UK once it leaves. The Austrians want to take the opportunity from Brexit to reform the EU to make it more efficient.
What Chancellor Kurz said on Brexit	“I think it was crystal clear what the consequences for Great Britain are: This is a big mess, an enormous damage, and so I don’t think that Great Britain will become a role model.” “For me, the status and rights of around 25,000 Austrians living and working in the UK are at the forefront.” “We also want to achieve clarity and legal certainty for Austrian companies operating in the UK.” On the Withdrawal Agreement: “It is a good deal for both sides. Nobody has been cheated. This deal prevents a hard Brexit. Therefore it helps us in Europe, but even more so it helps Great Britain because a hard Brexit would hit Great Britain significantly more severely.”
Austria’s priorities	In September 2019, Austria held snap elections following a no-confidence vote in Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. His party, the People’s Party (ÖVP), won the election obtaining 38% of the votes. The social democratic SPÖ came in second with 22% with the far right Freedom Party (FPÖ) losing seats, going from 26% to 17% of the vote. The election was triggered after footage appeared of the Vice Chancellor from the FPÖ, Heinz-Christian Strache, trying to trade lucrative public contracts for campaign support from a woman who Strache believed to be a Russian business woman. Sebastian Kurz will now start coalition talks. He could decide to again work together with the FPÖ, form a grand coalition with the SPÖ or work together with the Greens and liberal party Neos.