Questioning the Basic Values—Austria and Jörg Haider

This chapter argues against the common consensus regarding the EU 14’s measures against Austria in 2000 by not only retracing the core part of the story but also extending the perspectives on the year 2000 to the past and the future. First, the chapter analyses the historical dimension of Haider’s Freedom Party and the political relevance of the developments in the year 2000 from an Austrian perspective. The chapter contends that the EU did not learn effectively from the measures and failed to develop proper institutional and procedural mechanisms to deal with the questioning of basic values by a Member State. Hereafter, the chapter looks critically back on the participation of the Freedom Party in the Austrian government and the effects of Jörg Haider to Rule of Law and democracy in Austria. Emphasis is placed in acknowledging the different layers of the narrative on the EU 14’s measures.