Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler is an Austrian politician of the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(ÖVP) who serves as a member of the Federal Council of Austria and as President of the Federal Council since 1 January 2025. She previously served in that role in the second half of 2020. Previously, she served as a member of the National Council from 2006 to 2008. In 2019, she became the first woman to chair the parliamentary group of the People's Party.

Early life and education

Eder-Gitschthaler was born in the town of Vöcklabruck in 1961. She attended local schools and graduated from the law faculty of the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...

in 1984.

Early career

After her legal training, Eder-Gitschthaler worked for the Asset Management Association, followed by an advertising agency. In 1991, she became the head of marketing for the Salzburg office of

Uniqa Insurance Group The Uniqa Insurance Group AG (corporately styled "UNIQA") is one of the largest insurance groups in its core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe and has approximately 40 companies in 22 countries and serve about 10.5 million custom ...

Political career

Eder-Gitschthaler became active in politics as a member of the municipal council of

Wals-Siezenheim Wals-Siezenheim () is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung District, Salzburg-Umgebung (''Flachgau'') in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. The double municipality had been founded in 1948 of the places Wals and Siez ...

in 1999 and served on that body until 2014. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, she was elected to the National Council, the lower house of the

Parliament of Austria The Austrian Parliament () is the bicameral federal legislature of Austria. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene as the Federal Assembly. The legislature meets i ...

. In 2008, the Austrian People's Party suffered one of its worst results ever in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

and she was denied re-election to the National Council. In 2017, Eder-Gitschthaler was elected to the Federal Council by the Landtag of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. The People's Party named her as its parliamentary group leader in 2019, making her the first woman to hold the post. On 19 December 2019, she was elected as the Second Vice President of the Federal Council, placing her next in line to assume the rotating council presidency. On 1 July 2020, Eder-Gitschthaler took over as President of the Federal Council. In addition to her role in parliament, Eder-Gitschthaler has been serving as a member of the Austrian delegation to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

since 2020. In the Assembly, she is a member of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination. In this capacity, she authored a 2025 report on age-based discrimination against older persons.PACE calls for action to combat age-based discrimination against older persons

, press release 31 January 2025.

References

External links

Official Page at Parliament of Austria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eder-Gitschthaler, Andrea 1961 births Living people Austrian People's Party politicians Members of the 23rd National Council (Austria) Women members of the National Council (Austria) Presidents of the Austrian Federal Council Members of the Federal Council (Austria) People from Vöcklabruck 21st-century Austrian women politicians University of Salzburg alumni