The nomination of Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (VP) as EU Commissioner has led to the coalition reaching an agreement on other personnel issues after a lengthy blockade. The Council of Ministers has now passed the necessary circular resolution.
Economics Minister Martin Kocher (VP) will become the new governor of the National Bank from September 2025, and Edeltraud Stiftinger, head of Austria Wirtschaftsservice, will be the vice governor. Josef Meichenitsch, a Green central banker, will join the board of directors, and Thomas Steiner’s contract will be extended. Andreas Kumin will be nominated once again as a judge at the Court of Justice of the EU.
The one-and-a-half-year blockade of the Advisory Council in the Ministry of Justice has been resolved: the ÖVP had opposed the Linz criminal law professor Alois Birklbauer because he is a member of the SP. Now he has his chance. Nikolaus Bachler will be the Senate President of the Administrative Court. Nine vacancies at the Federal Administrative Court have been filled. Major General Peter Vorhofer will be the crisis coordinator.
