Austria 'fed Up' With Eu As It Takes on Presidency

Austria's president yesterday admitted that many of his citizens are "fed up" with the European Union, as the country prepares to take over the EU presidency from Britain on Sunday. In an interview yesterday Heinz Fischer conceded that Austrians had "cooled" on the EU, and warned that the bloc was not "limitlessly expandable".

Public scepticism in Austria had grown because of "mistakes" made by Europe's politicians, doubts over expansion, and by the recent bitter row between Britain and France over the EU budget, he said.

"The EU is certainly not limitlessly expandable," Mr Fischer told the Wiener Zeitung. "Many of the problems we are struggling with today, including unemployment, are seen by numerous Austrians as connected to EU membership."

"Over the past 10 years the approval ratings of Austrians towards the EU have gone [steadily] backwards," he added.

His comments suggest that Austria - which six years ago was hit with EU sanctions for bringing the far-right Freedom Party into its coalition government - will maintain its hardline Eurosceptic position towards further expansion.

In October Austria tried unsuccessfully to prevent Turkey's membership talks. Yesterday Mr Fischer said Bulgaria and Romania would join the EU "soon", but did not say whether he favoured delaying their accession, due in 2007, to 2008 if they fail to meet strict terms for EU entry.

Croatia, Bosnia and Albania also had a "medium-term" prospect of membership, he said, but added that other aspirants such as Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus had little hope of joining soon.

Austria's presidency comes after a bruising year for the EU, which saw France and the Netherlands reject the EU constitution and a prolonged row between Britain and France over budget reform. Earlier this month Austria's foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, said a "period of reflection" was now needed and would be the focus of the six-month presidency.

Yesterday Austrian officials said they were sympathetic to an initiative by Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, to revive the constitution - rejected by Dutch and French voters. "We don't want it to die. But we have to be realistic," one official said. "It's going to take one or two presidencies to reach a solution."