Vienna, 02/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, Wolfgang Schuessel's spokesperson refused to confirm or deny information published in the daily "Der Standard" by which the Austrian Chancellor had refused the offer of the other fourteen Member States of the EU, "organised by the Portuguese Presidency" providing for a monitoring group appointed by the EU to monitor the situation in Austria over the next few months so as to lift (doubtless only after the French Presidency of the EU Council) the bilateral sanctions of the Fourteen, should the group's report be positive. (You may recall that, for his part, Mr. Schuessel had proposed that the European Commission, "which has been monitoring us since the first day of the formation of the government", should already prepare a report for the Feira Summit: see EUROPE of 17 May, p.5)
The President of the SPO, Alfred Gusenbauer, asked Chancellor Schuessel to say whether he had in fact received such an offer, whether he had refused and why.