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The Austrian Green Party ( in the Austrian Parliament . The party was formed in 1986 with the name ''Grüne Alternative'', following the merger of the more conservative Green party ''Vereinte Grüne Österreichs'' (United Greens of Austria VGÖ , founded 1982 ) and the more progressive party ''Alternative Liste Österreichs'' (Alternative List Austria ALÖ , founded 1983 ). Since 1993 , the party has carried the official name ''Die Grünen - Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne)'', but refers to itself in English as "Austrian Greens". There are still differences between the former members of the old Alternative and VGÖ factions within the party, which is reflected in the different opinions between the national party and the state parties. Apart from Ecological issues such as Environmental Protection , the Greens also campaign for the rights of Minorities and advocate a socio-ecological (''ökosozial'') Tax Reform . Their basic values according to their charter in 2001 are: "direct democracy, non-violence, ecology, solidarity, feminism (meaning the promotion of the empowerment of women) and self-determination" {Link without Title} . The majority of the issues that the Greens champion cater to an especially young, urban, and higher-educated class of voters. The party is a member of the European Federation Of Green Parties . HISTORY While the Austrian Green Movement began in 1978 with the successful campaign to prevent the opening of the Nuclear Power plant in Zwentendorf (which had been favoured by Bruno Kreisky 's government), the Green Party was born in 1984 during the successful sit-in protests which prevented the Danube power plant at Hainburg from being built. Federal level In the 1986 Austrian Parliamentary Elections the Green Party started off with 4.82% of all votes cast and entered parliament with eight National Council mandates. In the early elections to National Council in 2002 , the Green Party nationwide received 9.47% of votes, and won 17 mandates to the National Council. At that time, it was the highest number of votes garnered by any European Green party. When the Greens took their seats in parliament for the first time, they chose to appear somewhat unconventional. They initially refused to adapt their behaviour to that of the other parties; an example of this is their refusal to elect a chairperson ('' Klubobmann / Klubobfrau '') and designated a puppet made out of straw instead. Delegates would appear in parliament dressed in casual wear like jeans and sneakers. World-wide attention was drawn when the Green delegate Andreas Wabl hoisted a Swastika flag on the speakers podium in the Austrian parliament, protesting against then Federal President Kurt Waldheim . After the national election in 2002 , the Greens entered into preliminary negotiations about a possible coalition government with the conservative ÖVP. During negotiations, party leadership was accused of internally black-mailing skeptical members. Negotiations between the two parites were subsequently called off, after the results with the ÖVP were not sufficient. The Green youth organisation '' Grünalternative Jugend '' (Green Alternative Youth or GAJ) briefly occupied the rooms of the Green parliamentary club in the Austrian parliament building in protest. In 2003 three Green federal counsellors formed their own club in the Upper House Federal Council (''Bundesrat'') of Parliament. Chairpersons since 1986 The chart below shows a timeline of the Green chairpersons and the Chancellors Of Austria . The left green bar shows all the chairpersons (''Bundessprecher'', abbreviated as "CP") of the Green party, and the right bar shows the corresponding make-up of the Austrian government at that time. The red ( SPÖ ) and black ( ÖVP ) colours correspond to which party led the federal government (''Bundesregierung'', abbreviated as "Govern."). The last names of the respective chancellors are shown, the Roman numeral stands for the Cabinet s. ImageSize = width:450 height:500 PlotArea = width:400 height:440 left:50 bottom:50 Legend = columns:3 left:50 top:25 columnwidth:65 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1986 till:2004 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1986 # there is no automatic collision detection, # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap Colors= id:Grüne value:green legend:Grüne id:SPÖ value:red legend:SPÖ id:ÖVP value:gray(0.25) legend:ÖVP Define = 25 # shift text to right side of bar Define = -4 # adjust height PlotData= width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S shift:(,) bar:CP color:Grüne from:1986 till:1988 text: Freda Meissner-Blau from:1988 till:1992 text: Johannes Voggenhuber from:1992 till:1994 text: Peter Pilz from:1994 till:1995 text: Madeleine Petrovic from:1995 till:1997 text: Christoph Chorherr from:1997 till:end text: Alexander Van Der Bellen bar:Govern. color:SPÖ from:1986 till:1987 text: Vranitzky I from:1987 till:1990 text:Vranitzky II from:1990 till:1994 text:Vranitzky III from:1994 till:1996 text:Vranitzky IV from:1996 till:1997 text:Vranitzky V from:1997 till:2000 text: Klima color:ÖVP from:2000 till:2003 text: Schüssel I from:2003 till:end text:Schüssel II Parliamentary election results State level The Green party also entered the parliaments or assemblies ('' Landtag '') of Austrian States and communal governments. Following is an analysis of the party on the State (''Länder'') level: Burgenland The Burgenland Greens were able to take their seats in the ''Landtag'' (state assembly) for the first time in 2000 . The party received 5.49% of the tally, which meant two mandates. In the state elections in 2005 these two seats were reaffirmed with 5.21% received of all votes cast. Carinthia In the southernmost state of Carinthia, different Green parties ran state elections: the '' KEL/AL '' in 1984 , '' Anderes Kärnten '' in 1989 and 1994 , and '' Demokratie 99 '' in 1999 . These parties were however never able to enter the ''Landtag'' (state assembly) since the Carinthian voting system requires a party to win a direct mandate or overcome the state-wide 10%- Threshold in order to enter. Only in s. Lower Austria In the Greens received 7.22% and thus won four mandates, which meant they had official club status in the assembly. With Madeleine Petrovic the Lower Austrian Greens have a former federal spokeswoman and one of the most outspoken animal activists of Austria as their leader ('' Klubobfrau ''). In 2005 the Lower Austrian Greens managed to win and take their seats in 100 municipal assemblies and as of 2005 had four vice-mayors. Salzburg After the state elections in three and in 1999 again two. Under the leadership of Cyriak Schwaighofer the Greens performed under their expectations in the 2004 state elections and could not achieve the desired club status of at least three mandates. As voter-current analyses showed, the small increases in votes were largely due to former voters of the Liberal Forum (LiF), which did not run in the Salzburg elections. The Bürgerliste (Citizen List) is the common platform of the Greens of the city of Salzburg . Like many other autonomous municipal groups it carries its own name. Styria In 2005, the Styrian Greens had three delegates sitting in the state assembly, Chairlady (''Klubobfrau'') Ingrid Lechner Sonnek , Edith Zitz and Peter Hagenauer . There are two independent Greens parties: on the one hand the state party, on the other hand there is the ''Die Grünen - Alternative Liste Graz'' party for the state capital Graz . In the Graz city-council the Greens are represented by Sigi Binder , Lisa Rücker , Hermann Candussi and Christina Jahn . Styria has the largest Austrian Green youth organization in Austria, called '' Grüne Jugend Steiermark '' (Green Youth Styria). Beside the Green Youth Styria there also exists Austria’s first Green student’s organization, the ''ECO Students''. Tyrol In the Tyrol the Greens (official name: '' Die Grünen – die Grüne Alternative Tirol '') were able to win seats and placed in 1994 Eva Lichtenberger as Austria’s first Green state Councillor in a local government, responsible for environmental affairs. The . The communal elections of 2004 brought a doubling of the mandates for the Tyrolean Greens. In the elections to the European parliament the Tyrolean Greens obtained 17.32%, their best result until then. Eva Lichtenberger subsequently changed her position to become a and the social-democratic SPÖ . The Greens were able to score on a number of issues that they have been fighting for years. Besides the social topics above all the problems of transit traffic over the Alps was important. The Tyrolean Greens have experts on traffic issues with MEP Eva Lichtenberger, the national speaker and club chairman (''Klubobmann'') Georg Willi and the speaker of group of regional of Innsbruck Gerhard Fritz. The issue of transit traffic through the Tyrol is of great importance, because the state is troubled by the massive transit traffic between Germany and Italy over the Brenner Pass . Since the Tyrol sits right in between Germany and Italy, the bulk of the commercial traffic passes through there. This heavy-duty traffic has devastating effects on the fragile alpine environment and decreases the quality of life for the inhabitants. Since the entry to the European Union, Austria had to give up any quota limitations on how much international traffic coming from EU-countries is allowed to pass through its territory. The Tyrolean Greens accused to federal government of not having pushed for a better deal with the European Union concerning transit-traffic and in effect abandoning the concerns of the citizens. They also heavily criticised the government’s failure to negotiate a follow-up of the 1994 transit-treaty signed with the EU. Apart from the Greens, various anti-transit Civic Movement s have formed to protest against the environmental damages caused by the traffic. Sitting in the National Council is Kurt Grünwald , a Tyrolean member of parliament, as well as the leader of the Greens Alexander Van Der Bellen , who has Tyrolean roots (he spend a part of his youth there and went to high school in Innsbruck). The results of the Tyrolean ''Landtag'' elections: 2003 delegates: Sepp Brugger , Maria Scheiber, Uschi Schwarzl , Elisabeth Wiesmüller und Georg Willi (club chairman); 1999 delegates: Maria Scheiber , Elisabeth Wiesmüller , Georg Willi (club chairman); 1994 delegates: Bernhard Ernst , Franz Klug, Max Schneider und Georg Willi (club chairman {Link without Title} ); 1989 delegates: Eva Lichtenberger, Jutta Seethaler , Franz Klug ). Upper Austria In leader Rudi Anschober was able to convince party members and after some dealing became state councillor for environmental affairs. The Greens of the state capital of Linz under the leadership of city councillor Jürgen Himmelbauer were most against this black-green project. On the national level, the Upper Austrian Greens were able to nominate and send to the parliamentary Upper House Federal Council (''Bundesrat'') councillor Ruperta Lichtenecker . Vorarlberg The Vorarlberg Greens were the first to ever win mandates in an Austrian state assembly election. Already in 1984 they were able to win 13% of the votes in the Vorarlberg state assembly elections, which for that time was an absolute sensation. The charismatic alpine farmer Kaspanaze Simma from Bregenzerwald was leading the leading candidate, it was mainly due to his efforts why the party was so instantly successful. Because of their strength, the Greens were allowed to form their own parliamentary fraction (''Klub''), which caused some logistical problems as the newly constructed ''Landtag'' building in 1981 only provided space for the traditional three parties (ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ), not four. Since the traditional Organic Farming sector is important in the western Austrian regions, the Greens were able to gain support. In the following years the Greens were able to consolidate their position by gaining seats on the communal and municipal level. Occasionally they lost their official club status in the state assembly, when they fared poorly from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 the speaker of the Vorarlberg Greens was Johannes Rauch . The results of the Vorarlberg ''Landtag'' elections: 1 Combined result of ALÖ and VGÖ Vienna The Viennese Greens started candidating in the Vienna ''Gemeinderat'' (municipal council or state assembly) in (32.26%), Alsergrund (29.43%), Mariahilf (28.97%) and Wieden (25.14%). In the 2001 ''Gemeinderat'' elections, the Greens were able to win the majority of a district for the first time. In the district of Neubau they won 32.55% and were able to nominate the ''Bezirksvorsteher'' (mayor of the district). The results of 2001 also allowed the Viennese Greens to nominate Stefan Schennach as federal councilor to the Upper House of Parliament ('' Bundesrat ''). But despite the strong gains, the Greens were not able to enter into a coalition government with the SPÖ , since the social-democrats were able to win an absolute majority. The European Parliament Election, 2004 were the best for the Viennese Greens so far. From the total tally, they received 22%, which put them ahead of the christian-democratic ÖVP and placed them on second position behind the SPÖ (37.7%). In Neubau the Greens received 41%. They were also able to win first place in the districts of Wieden, Mariahilf, Josefstadt and Alsergrund. In the 2005 ''Gemeinderat'' elections, the Greens were able to win votes, but missed their target of becoming the second most powerful party and ended up on fourth place, right behind the right-wing FPÖ . Because of the different weighing by districts, the Greens received 14 mandates, one more than the FPÖ. They were also able to place another city-councillor. In the districts, the party was able to consolidate their holding on Neubau, as well as win the majority of votes in Josefstadt. With that, the Greens were able to nominate a second Green district-mayor. The second place was won in the districts of Leopoldstadt , Margareten , Mariahilf, Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus . Die Green delegates to the Viennese ''Gemeinderat'' or ''Landtag'' as of 2006 were: Maria Vassilakou (club-chairlady {Link without Title} ), Waltraut Antonov , Heidi Cammerlander , Christoph Chorherr , Sabine Gretner , Susanne Jerusalem , Alev Korun , Rüdiger Maresch , Martin Margulies , Sigrid Pilz , Ingrid Puller , Marie Ringler , Marco Schreuder , Claudia Sommer-Smolik . The two city-councillors are David Ellensohn and Monika Vana . The results of the Viennese ''Gemeinderat'' elections: 1 ran as ALW (Alternative Liste Wien) ORGANISATION In 2004 the Greens had about 3,000 members nation-wide, although at present there are no uniform regulations for membership. Apart from the members, the Greens rely on a large number of volunteers. The party used to function on the principles of Basis Democracy (''Basisdemokratie'') and Rotation Principle (''Rotationsprinzip''), but this was stopped in the course of the time. The last basic-democratic element is the '' Urabstimmung '', which is a vote on any issue that can be initiated with the petition of at least 100 members. As of 2003 however, no such vote has taken place. The highest body is the ''Bundeskongress'' (Federal Congress), which convenes at least once a year. All state organisations send delegates, also the immigrants-organisation is allowed to send delegates as "the tenth Austrian State ". The Federal Congress decides the electoral lists for the National Council elections or elections to the European Parliament . The congress also elects the federal spokesperson (''BundesprecherIn''). The congress also decides the party program and sets the party guidelines. The ''Bundesvorstand'' (Federal Board Of Trustees ) has in the last few years developed itself into the actual decision-making centre. It meets at least once a week, mostly on Tuesdays, and determines the guidelines of the daily politics. The board also has decides over the party finances. The extended federal board of trustees (''Erweiterter Bundesvorstand'') consists of a smaller number of delegates from each state and meets at least once a month. It takes care of the implementation of the party-guidelines, which were set by the party congress. It also chooses the representatives of the party spokesperson. The state organisations (''Landesorganisationen'') are for their most part organised similarly: There are state meetings, which sometimes convene as a members meeting or a delegates meeting. Similar to the Federal Board of Trustees, there are the State Board of Trustees (''Landesvorstände''). The party charter also allows for each state group to hold a vote on basic issues as well that affect the whole party. Independently in the National Council there also exists a Green National Council Club (faction), which can independently specify its guidelines. In the last years however an increasing fusion of the work between party and its club was noticeable. Michaela Sburny , successor of Franz Raft since June 2004 as federal executive manager of the Greens, was allowed to keep her National Council mandate. This means she is allowed to hold two offices at the same time, something that was frowned upon by the Greens previously. There are different Green or Greenish organisations within the party and associated with it. These include:
The education and training of new Green politicians is done by the ''. The ''Grüne Bildungswerkstatt'' is financed by the republic, as regulated by Austrian law for the equal treatment of all parliamentary parties. PROMINENT MEMBERS Among the most notable founding members and mentors are or were Professor Alexander Tollmann , the painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser , the actor Herbert Fux , the mayor of Steyregg Josef Buchner (the first Green mayor in Austria – in 1987 excluded from the Green parliamentary club), Freda Meissner-Blau and Günther Nenning , with Nobel Prize laureate Konrad Lorenz supporting the 1984 protests at Hainburg. Today, Green politicians include (in alphabetical order)
Members of the European Parliament
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