In Austrian politics, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Bundesministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort'') is the ministry in charge of promoting commerce and industry, overseeing public works, and maintaining the public infrastructure. In some recent cabinets, it has also been responsible for employment; in others, for family affairs and science. The current Minister of the Economy is Margarete Schramböck. Originally founded in 1848 as the Ministry for Commerce and Public Works (''Ministerium für Handel und öffentliche Arbeiten''), the institution's formal name of exact portfolio have undergone numerous changes over the years. As of 2018, the ministry is officially called the Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs (''Ministerium für Digitalisierung und Wirtschaftsstandort'' or ''BMDW'').

History

The Ministry of Economy was first established in the aftermath of the

Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire The Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire were a set of revolutions that took place in the Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalist character: the Empire, ruled from Vienna, incl ...

as the Ministry for Commerce and Public Works (''Ministerium für Handel und öffentliche Arbeiten''). Over the course of the next several decades, its list of responsibilities gradually grew longer; its name changed several time to reflect the new reality. In 1918, following the collapse of the Austrian Empire in the final days of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the ministry was briefly divided into a commerce department (''Staatsamt für Gewerbe, Industrie und Handel'') and a reconstruction department (''Staatsamt für Kriegs- und Übergangswirtschaft''). The two halves were reunited within the year. The Ministry went back to gradually acquiring new areas of responsibility and occasionally changing its name. In 1967, the Ministry was split into a Ministry of Commerce and Industry (''Ministerium für Handel, Gewerbe und Industrie'') and a Ministry of Civil Engineering (''Ministerium für Bauten und Technik''); the latter assumed responsibility for managing public real estate and structures, roadworks, waterways, hydraulic engineering, water supply, sewerage, the promotion of housing construction, and engineering standardization, among other things. The split was undone in 1987. In 2000, the Schüssel cabinet merged the Ministry of Economy with the

Ministry of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. Road construction and maintenance and a number of minor matters were assigned to the Ministry of Traffic; waterways and hydraulic engineering went to the Ministry of Agriculture. The

Ministry of Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

took over family affairs, becoming the Ministry of Social Affairs in the process. The merger was undone in 2008. The Ministry's current name and portfolio dates to 2018.

Responsibilities

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs is responsible for: * Trade and industry matters. * Economic and structural policy matters in areas that fall within the competence of the Federal Ministry. * Organization of the internal market. * Matters of professional representation of the self-employed in the field of commerce, trade and industry. * Matters of the Austrian representation at the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

. * Affairs of national economic defense, including the coordination of national economic defense. * Administration of all federal buildings and real estate, including real estate used by federal institutions, insofar as they do not fall within the scope of another federal ministry.

Structure

As of May 2018, the ministry consists of the Minister and his personal staff (''Kabinett''), the office of the director general, and nine departments: * Information management (''Abteilung Informationsmanagement'') * Public relations (''Abteilung Presse, Öffentlichkeitsarbeit und Filmwirtschaft'') * Budget and administration (''Bereich Budget und Administration'') * Human resources and legal (''Bereich Personal und Recht'') * Economic policy, innovation, and technology (''Center 1 – Wirtschaftspolitik, Innovation und Technologie'') * External economic relations policy and European integration (''Center 2 - Außenwirtschaftspolitik und Europäische Integration'') * Enterprise policy (''Sektion I Unternehmenspolitik'') * Historical buildings (''Sektion II Historische Objekte'') * Digitalization, innovation, and electronic government (''Sektion III Digitalisierung, Innovation und E-Government'') The Minister and his staff are political appointees; the general secretary and the section heads are career civil servants.

List of Ministers

References

External links

Official web site

English version
{{authority control Government of Austria

Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Lists of government ministers of Austria