Martin Selmayr will be a visiting professor at the University of Vienna from February 1st. As an EU ambassador in Austria, he spent four years conducting discussions about Europe up and down the country.
Vienna (OTS) – Martin Selmayr, Ambassador of the European Commission to Austria since November 2019, will take up a visiting professorship for European law at the Institute for Innovation and Digitalization in Law at the University of Vienna from February 1st. He will be working there for six months in research and teaching, primarily on questions of EU digitalization law and EU sustainability law.
“I am very much looking forward to being able to research and teach on the most current issues of European law together with the excellent scientists at the University of Vienna,” says Selmayr, who already teaches European law at the University of Saarbrücken and at the Danube University in Krems. has been honorary scientific director of the Center for European Law at the University of Passau since 2022 and now brings extensive experience from EU practice to the university. “From the General Data Protection Regulation to the AI Act, from the new emissions trading system to the CO2 border adjustment mechanism: many of the laws passed at EU level in recent years now need a sound scientific analysis and explanation,” says Selmayr. The Institute for Innovation and Digitalization in Law at the University of Vienna is headed by Professor Dr. Nicholas Forgo.
Ambassador in challenging times
With the switch to science, Selmayr’s position as head of the representation of the European Commission in Austria ends after four years. The Covid pandemic, the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent energy price crisis fell during Selmayr’s term of office. At the same time, Selmayr experienced four federal chancellors.
“These were challenging times for Austria and Europe,” says Selmayr. “Especially in times like these, it is important to keep talking, to respond to people’s concerns, to explain things with facts and to strengthen trust in our democracy and cooperation in a common Europe. It was particularly important to me to travel regularly in all federal states and to be present in the cities and communities. I was able to learn a lot about Austria, its impressive diversity and its friendly population.”
Over the past four years, Selmayr has campaigned tirelessly for more cohesion in Europe: “From a global perspective, all EU states are small states. “It is only together that we can overcome the great challenges of our time, whether climate change, migration or maintaining the security and peace order on our continent,” said Selmayr, who supported the joint EU development program during the pandemic NextGenerationEU committed to securing jobs and stabilizing companies in the EU. In Austria, the EU program is financing, among other things, the expansion of the Koralmbahn.
Firmly on the side of Ukraine
Solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s attack on February 24, 2022, which violated international law, was of particular concern to Selmayr: “Ukraine belongs to the European family, and it is an important signal that the EU states, with the support of Austria, have now decided to deal with the Ukraine to open accession negotiations. The people of Ukraine today defend our European values and our order of peace, freedom and security based on international law. We should therefore do everything we can to help Ukraine win its defensive war against Russia as quickly as possible.”
“We are all Europe!”
Selmayr’s stated aim was to convey that all European decisions are always made with the participation of Austrian ministers and the EU representatives directly elected in Austria. “We are all Europe! Alois Mock rightly emphasized this,” said Selmayr, who was awarded the Alois Mock European Prize in Perchtoldsdorf in 2020.
Selmayr repeatedly spoke positively about Austria, especially about its advanced digitalization, the strong research landscape, the performance of the ÖBB and its night trains, and environmentally friendly innovations such as the climate ticket. “Austria is much better than it sometimes believes itself,” is Selmayr’s credo. However, the EU ambassador also pointed out when the EU was unfairly used as a scapegoat in the public debate. In 2021, he rejected criticism of the vaccine procurement (co-decided by Austria) and made it clear in the summer of 2023 that cash was protected by the EU treaties and therefore could not be abolished. The EU ambassador also found clear words when, in times of corona-related restrictions, it was said that the EU would ban skiing in Austria. “The EU has no skiing expertise,” Selmayr said. “Our job is to communicate what the EU is doing. But given the rise in fake news and disinformation, it is equally important to be clear about what the EU is not responsible for.”
Selmayr criticized the continued purchase of Russian gas even after the Russian war of aggression, even though he was by no means only focusing on Austria: “I understand that it will take some time until the energy supply is reorganized,” said Selmayr. “But every cubic meter of gas that flows from Russia today makes us further dependent on the autocrat Putin. And helps him finance his war of aggression, which violates international law. The quicker we get out of Russian gas, the better.”
Cycling tours and summit discussions in all federal states
During the Corona pandemic, the EU ambassador organized more than 100 online debates on European topics. In 2021, Selmayr cycled 1,900 kilometers between Lake Neusiedl and Lake Constance to have more than 650 conversations. He was accompanied by Paul Schmidt, Secretary General of the Austrian Society for European Policy, and the regional Europe Direct centers. The EU summit tour followed in 2023: Selmayr and Schmidt pursued current EU issues on mountain hikes in all federal states together with interested citizens and many mayors and EU local councilors, from the Dobratsch in Carinthia to the Schöckl in Styria to the Gratlspitze in Tyrol. Selmayr has organized “EU Policy Retreats” several times with decision-makers from politics, business and society, for example on the topic of “Green Finance” in Schwarzenberg in the Bregenzerwald and on US Inflation Reduction Act at Schlaining Castle 2023. In the Vienna House of the EU, Selmayr regularly hosted the EU Culture Salon, where, among others, the writer Robert Menasse and the actor Harald Krassnitzer discussed Europe.
Highest-ranking EU Commission representative in Austria since joining the EU
Selmayr, who will take on a new European role in the fall, was appointed EU ambassador to Austria in 2019 by then EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Juncker, who has always had close ties to Austria and its federal states, sent his former head of cabinet and Secretary General of the European Commission, the highest-ranking EU Commission representative since Austria’s accession to the EU, to Vienna. For the coming months, Wolfgang Bogensberger, Selmayr’s long-time deputy, will take over the management of the commission representation.
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