ABSTRACT
The relations with the EC/EU have been an important element of Austrian politics for a long time. After being part of a multinational empire for centuries, its place on the geopolitical map of Europe was not well established subsequent to the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Austria's political élite strove to secure the country a place as part of western Europe. The main reasons for this change from the former more central European orientation were, on the one hand, the reduction of (economic) contacts with its neighbours in the East, due to the Iron Curtain; on the other hand, the communism of east central Europe had no attraction for the large majority of the élite and population. They wanted the country to be anchored in the democratic and economically successful western part of the continent.
