Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs

This article covers the Austrian Foreign Ministry until it was renamed BMEIA in 2007. For the Federal German Foreign Ministry see Foreign Office .

Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Minoritenplatz 8, Vienna

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( BMAA ), mostly abbreviated as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was the Austrian federal administrative body, since 1959 as the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs ( BMAA ) and since April 1, 1987 ( Federal Law Gazette No. 78/1987 ) as the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs ( BMaA for short ) Under this name, primarily responsible for matters of foreign policy, representation of the republic towards foreign states and, since Austria's accession to the European Union, for coordination in EU affairs. During the Austrian Council Presidency in the first half of 2006 , the Austrian EU Embassy in Brussels, chaired by the experienced diplomat Gregor Woschnagg , had 150 employees instead of the usual 80 employees. During the entire chairmanship there was a holiday ban for all employees.

Under Foreign Minister Plassnik (see below) the ministry was renamed the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs with effect from March 1, 2007 ( Federal Law Gazette I No. 6/2007 ) .

Federal Minister

In the Federal Government Gusenbauer was Ursula Plassnik ( ÖVP ) at the beginning of their term of office on 11 January 2007 as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and after renaming the department as Federal Minister for European and International Affairs.

Competencies

The BMaA or after renaming to BMEIA was responsible for:

• European and international affairs as long as they do not fall under the jurisdiction of another federal ministry .
  • Foreign policy
  • Matters of international law
  • Negotiation of international treaties
  • Affairs of international organizations
  • Diplomatic passports ; interstate ceremonial ; Awards system for foreigners
  • Mediation of legal and administrative assistance
  • General matters of European Union law ; Coordination in matters of the European Union
  • Affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency
  • Diplomatic Academy
  • Development cooperation and coordination of international development policy
  • Cooperation with the UNHCR and the ICRC

organization

The BMAA was divided into the following sections , groups , departments and units:

• Federal Minister
  • Secretary General
  • General Inspectorate
  • Section I: Central Affairs ( Protocol ; International Law ; Press and Information; International Conferences; Security Matters )
  • Section II: Political Section ( CFSP ; Western and Northern Europe ; South Tyrol and Southern Europe ; Central , Eastern and Southeastern Europe ; Asia ; Middle East ; America ; Africa ; International Organizations ; OSCE ; IAEA )
  • Section III: Integration, Economic Policy, EU (EU policy issues, EU institutions; European Council ; external economic relations ; EU enlargement; Community policies : employment, social issues, industry, consumer protection; transport and energy matters, EURATOM )
  • Section IV: Legal and consular section (legal and administrative assistance, intergovernmental agreements: criminal and civil law , internal security; travel and border traffic; Austrians abroad; information center for consular issues, protective measures in crisis areas, citizenship matters; cooperation regarding internal security and movement of people, terrorism -, drug , crime and money laundering prevention , justice and home affairs)
  • Section V: Cultural Policy Section (including UNESCO )
  • Section VI: Administrative Affairs, Infrastructure
  • Section VII: Development cooperation and cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries; Coordination of international development policy (see also development aid )

Historical development

• 1742: Secret house, court and state chancellery for foreign policy matters
• 1867: (k. U. K.) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• 1919: State Office for Foreign Affairs
• 1920: Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• 1923: Incorporation into the Federal Chancellery (BKA) as a section
• 1959: Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs (BMAA)
• 1987: Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs (BMaA)
• March 1, 2007: The word foreign has been removed from the name, see: Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA)

See also: List of Austrian Foreign Ministers