AUSTRIA'S NEW CABINET: MINISTER FOR

UNCLAS VIENNA 001869 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE USDOC FOR 4212/MAC/EUR/OWE/PDACHER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL ECON ECPS EAIR ELTN AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA'S NEW CABINET: MINISTER FOR TRANSPORTATION, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGY DORIS BURES REF: VIENNA 1772 ¶1. The following is a profile of new Minister for Transportation, Innovation and Technology Doris Bures, A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPO). Experience -------------- ¶2. This is the second ministerial appointment for Bures, sworn in December 2 as Austria's new transport/technology minister. In the Gusenbauer cabinet (2007-2008),she served as Federal Minister for Women's Issues, Media and the Civil Service in the Federal Chancellery. Except for that appointment and her function as head of Parliament's Construction Committee, Bures has experience only in Social Democratic party roles as SPO party manager and as SPO Member of Parliament -- and no experience in any of the areas that she now covers which include road, rail, and air transport; postal / telecom issues; and research/science. ¶3. Bures was born August 3, 1962, in Vienna. After high school, she trained as a dentist's assistant. She started her political career in 1980 in the Federal Secretariat of the Social-Democratic Party's (SPO) Youth Movement. Bures managed a project for unemployed youth (1985-86),worked in the youth department of the City of Vienna (1987-88),and was a councilwoman in the Vienna district of Liesing (1987-90). From 1990 to 2007, Bures was Member of Parliament and for many years head of the parliament's Construction Committee. Concurrently, she was President of Austria's Tenant Association from 1997 to 2007 and one of three SPO Party Managers under Party Chairman Alfred Gusenbauer from 2000 to 2007. From March 2007 to July 2008, she was Federal Minister for Women's issues, Media and the Civil Service in the Federal Chancellery. Bures survived the collapse of the Gusenbauer-Molterer coalition and the party reshuffle when Werner Faymann took over as SPO party chairman: she was asked to become SPO Party Manager in the spring of 2007, and was re-elected to Parliament in September. Political/Economic Views -------------- ¶4. Previously known as a close ally of former Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, Bures now follows in the footsteps of current Chancellor Faymann who headed the ministry from 2007 to 2008 (but did not distinguish himself in that role). Unlike Faymann -- viewed as a non-ideological pragmatist and networker -- Bures is known as a vocal SPO ideologue who is sometimes divisive. ¶5. Bures' biggest short-term issue is restructuring the postal service, which must be liberalized under European Union rules in the face of union resistance. She has ruled out privatizing the Federal Railroad company (OeBB) but is willing to discuss a strategic partner for its cargo business. OeBB has a number of problems including debts of over EUR 12 billion and huge potential write-offs from speculative financial dealings. On road transport, she ruled out the introduction of general road pricing (distance-dependent road tolls) but advocates higher truck tolls. ¶6. Science is unlikely to be Bures' forte, since R&D portfolios are split between her ministry, the Ministry of Science and Research, and the Economics Ministry. She promised to work for more R&D funds to achieve the GoA goal to raise R&D spending to 3% of GDP by 2010 and 4% by 2020. Currently, Austria's total R&D spending is around 2.6%. Personal -------------- ¶7. Bures lives with a partner and has one daughter. She is reputed to be a workaholic and her only known hobby is jogging. GIRARD-DICARLO