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Page 1 of 3 Since the beginning of 1995 Austria has been a member of the European Union. This step has accelerated the process of economic adjustment initiated when Austria joined the European Economic Area (EEA) in January 1994. Membership of the EU offers Austria the opportunity to enlarge the scope of its integration above and beyond purely economic matters. The challenges that face Austria in the future will be securing the greatest possible congruence of its economic policy with common EU policies, most notably in the fields of trade, agriculture, regional development, taxation and monetary policy.
Austria is in a strong position here, being one of the wealthiest and most stable of the EU member countries. Its economic system, a free market economy with a strong emphasis on social factors favouring the economically less privileged, will be retained in the EU, as will the successful system of Economic and Social Partnership, which has traditionally played an important conciliatory role in the country´s wages and price policy.
Having reached the required level of convergence Austria is one the 11 EU-countries that entered into phase 3 of the Economic- and Monetary Union (EMU) in the beginning of 1999. The introduction of the Euro banknotes and coins on 1.1.2002 was a milestone in the longtime process of economic convergence and integration. While this entails forgoing the possibility of an independent national monetary and exchange rate policy, at the same time it means that Austria has become a member of the world´s second-largest economic area.
Austria is a highly developed industrialised nation with an important service sector. The foremost industries are foodstuffs and luxury commodities, mechanical engineering and steel construction, chemicals and vehicle manufacturing. Within the vehicle sector, the production of engines and transmissions is the most important area, accounting for an export quota in excess of 90%. Austria manufactures some 800,000 engines per annum for many major car manufacturers. In the electronic engineering field, Austria has made a name for itself with the production of customised electronics products like microprocessors and integrated circuits (chips for airbags, ABS braking systems; components for Airbus airliners and for high-speed trains etc.)
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