08/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Three months after the general election, the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the People's Party (ÖVP) announced on 8 January that they had concluded an agreement on the formation of a “grand coalition”, to be led by Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ). In the election of 1 October, the Social Democrats won 35.3% of the vote, just beating the ÖVP (34.3%). On Monday, the leader of the European Socialist Party (ESP) Poul Nyrup Rasmussen congratulated Mr Gusenbauer, “a committed European”. Under his government, “I think we will see Austria increasingly engaged and active in Europe on jobs, economic growth and social justice,” said Mr Rasmussen in a press release. (hb)