Johannes Hahn (born 2 December 1957) is an Austrian politician who served as European Commissioner for Budget and Administration under Ursula von der Leyen from 2019 to 2024.BRIEFING Hearings of European Commissioners-designate- JOHANNES HAHN European Parliament
He previously served as European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations from November 2014 to November 2019 and before that as European Commissioner for Regional Policy from 2010 to 2014. Before entering the European Commission, Hahn served as the Austrian Minister for Science and Research from 2007 to 2010. He is a member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), part of the European People's Party (EPP)."Barroso gets new EU Commission team", BBC News, 25 November 2009; Retrieved 28 November 2009"Barroso II: 13 EPP Commissioners receive key portfolios", European People's Party, 27 November 2009; Retrieved 28 November 2009
Early life Hahn studied at the University of Vienna and began his political career in the youth organisation of the Austrian People's Party (JVP), where he was chairman of the Vienna group from 1980 to 1985. In the 1980s, Hahn drafted the first European manifesto of the ÖVP's youth wing, where he was deputy leader. He adopted a decidedly pro-European position at a time when many within the party had doubts about Austria's accession to the EU.Silke Wettach (3 March 2010), Johannes Hahn: Sensitive Thinker European Voice.
Doctoral thesis Hahn graduated with a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vienna in 1987. In May 2007, media scholar Stefan Weber accused Hahn of copying numerous pages of his PhD thesis from other books without citing them correctly.Weber called it an "absolutely sloppy" work Abgeschrieben? Debatte über Hahns Doktorarbeit – Zitierregeln damals noch anders? ORF 24 May 2007. The suspected plagiarism was not confirmed by an expert committee from the University of Zurich that looked into the matter.Newspaper of the University of Vienna – online: Hahns Dissertation ist „nicht plagiatsverdächtig“. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2010 Other academics contested this evaluation.According to Herbert Hrachovec, professor of philosophy at Vienna University, the Swiss experts only evaluated a small part of Hahn's dissertation. Die Begutachtungsfrist und der Minister Herbert Hrachovec. 14 August 2008, Retrieved 5 January 2010 a) tabulation of critical sections b) direct comparison of selected paragraphs of Hahn's work with those of the original authors: , In June 2009 Hrachovec published an evaluation of the first hundred pages of the paper and claimed that the paper contains dozens of uncited paragraphs, which question the assessability of the dissertation. Evalutation report regarding Hahn's dissertation by Herbert Hrachovec, html-document Herbert Hrachovec. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010 The University of Vienna looked into the matter but decided not to start an examination procedure, saying that Hahn never presented "other people's intellectual property" as his own.Nicht gerupft, sondern mit neuen Federn oe24.at. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010 Renewed allegation of plagiarism emerged in February 2011, when Austrian Green MP Peter Pilz commissioned Stefan Weber to re-assess Hahn's PhD thesis.Hahns Doktorarbeit wieder auf Prüfstand . In: kurier.at, 22 February 2011, Retrieved 23 February 2011 End of May 2011, the expert group published its findings, listing 76 cases of plagiarism, which together account for at least 17.2% of Hahn's 254-page doctoral thesis. Hahn denied the charges and claimed they were "politically motivated, hardly surprising and not relevant."Austrian commissioner faces plagiarism accusations . In: Euractiv.com, 26 May 2011, Retrieved 27 May 2011 In April 2011, the University of Vienna asked the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity to examine Hahn's doctoral thesis. In November 2011, the university released a statement saying that in the university's opinion, Hahn's doctoral thesis wasn't plagiarism. The university's vice-chancellor added that "today, such a dissertation would not be accepted".Wiener Zeitung – Hahn – Freispruch im Zweifel. Article of 4 November 2011 The agency based its verdict on reports by three external experts. Neither the Agency for Research Integrity nor the University of Vienna would reveal the identities of the external experts.
Years from 1987 to 2007
From 1987 to 1989 Hahn worked as Secretary General of the Austrian Managers Association, and was active in the Austrian Federal Youth Council (ÖBJR) and the General Secretariat of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). In 1992 Hahn became Secretary of the Austrian People's Party in Vienna and, in 1996, he became a member of the Vienna regional council, where he seated until 2003. In the same years (1997–2003) he served as a member of the supervisory board at Novomatic, an online gaming and casino management system firm, of which he was appointed CEO in 2003.
From 2003 to 2007 Hahn was a member of the Vienna regional government (without portfolio). Since 2004 Hahn has been Chairman of the Austrian People's Party in Vienna and, as such, was the party frontrunner in the October 2005 regional elections in which an increase in votes for the ÖVP (and a slight loss in votes for the FPÖ) made the ÖVP the second strongest party in the regional parliament, with 18 seats.
Activities for Novomatic
From 1997 onwards, Hahn was member of the executive board of Novomatic. In 2003, he became the CEO. Novomatic is an international gambling company, founded by the billionaire Johann Graf in 1980. There are several controversies about the company (Novomatic subsidiary G. Matica in Italy;derstandard.at gambling in Poland investigations by the Romanian National Anticorruption Directorate)On general aspects of Corruption in Romania, see Corruption in Romania; furthermore
Minister of Science and Research
Johannes Hahn was sworn in as Minister of Science and Research on 11 January 2007, as part of the Austrian Federal Government under Alfred Gusenbauer, then from 2 December 2008 as part of the First Faymann government.EU's new regional chief: Europe can prove 'added value' EurActiv.com. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
Amongst other things, in his work Hahn has placed a particular focus on improving public relations for people and institutions working in and around the fields of science and research. Numerous campaigns, events and projects have promoted "Children's University" projects, the "Sparkling Science" programme, the "Visibility Measures" to raise public awareness of the work done by women scientists, the Forte Coaching Programme, the "Long Night of Research", as well as various awards, such as the Wittgenstein Prize. Hahn's aim has been to bring more researchers into the public eye as, for example, he publicly called upon the Austrian Academy of Sciences to "come out of their ivory tower".Raus aus dem Elfenbeinturm Der Standard. 30 June 2009.Feuerwerke für die Forschung Der Standard. 5 February 2008
During Hahn's term of office, all graduates of degree programmes at Fachhochschulen were given equal status to their university graduate counterparts in the civil serviceBeamte: FH-Absolventen Akademikern gleichgestellt Die Presse 5 July 2007. and all students enrolled in Fachhochschule study programmes have been recognised as full members of the Austrian Students' Association (ÖH) since December 2007.ÖH-Wahl: Fachhochschulen feiern Premiere Die Presse 25 February 2009. In April 2008, Hahn announced the first ever budget increase (average of 13.7 per cent more per university place) in the history of Austrian Fachhochschulen.Bundesförderung: Mehr Geld für Fachhochschulen Die Presse 14 September 2008.
One of Hahn's aims has been to raise public awareness of the great number of successful women in science and research in Austria by means of the so-called "Visibility Measures" which were launched in 2008. This included media training,Wissenschaftlerin im Film: Nur mit strenger Frisur und Brille Die Presse 18 November 2008. a film script competition on the topic of women scientists,Drehbuchwettbewerb "Wissenschafterin im Film – dieangewandte.at Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien. 17 March 2009.Wissenschafterinnen sichtbar machen CeiberWeiber – Frauen Online Magazin. 14 May 2009. the fForte Coaching ProgrammeCoaching für Wissenschafterinnen Computerwelt. 16 June 2009.Pressedienst Parlament – Hahn: Keine Einsparungen im Wissenschafts- und Forschungsbericht Sitzung des Wissenschaftsausschusses. 18 February 2009. as well as the appointment of women scientists to management positionsSabine Ladstaetter, from Carinthia, was appointed the new director of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) and Irene Forstner-Mueller was appointed head of the Institute's Cairo branch and its excavations. Sabine Ladstätter und Irene Forstner-Müller für Österreichs Archäologie frauen-business.at – Das Wirtschaftsmagazin für Frauen. 1 October 2009.
In co-operation with Austrian booksellers, Hahn launched an initiative in autumn 2007 to select the best scientific book of the year.Gesucht: das beste Wissenschaftsbuch des Jahres ORF. 1 February 2008.Die Idee zur Aktion – Woche des Wissens . Retrieved 13 December 2009. Die Jury – Woche des Wissens . Retrieved 13 December 2009. In 2008 Hahn created the "Award of Excellence" for the best doctoral theses in Austria, as a way of recognising the work of young scientists and making the public more aware of their activities. Each of them received 2,500 euro in prize money. Nominations for these awards were made by the vice-chancellors of Austrian universities.Award of Excellence für 36 Dissertationen Der Standard. 2 December 2009.Neue Auszeichnung für Dissertationen Die Presse. 10 September 2009. Hahn has also continued the tradition of awarding the Wittgenstein Prize, a science prize with the highest money value in Austria (1.5 million euro), which attracts a great deal of media attention and is tied to research activities in the following six years.Zwei Weltspitzenforscher Der Standard. 19 October 2009. The Long Night of Research was re-introduced under Minister Hahn after an interval of several years as an important way to communicate enthusiasm for and information about research and to provide a platform on which researchers can show to the wider public their work and their commitment.Dritte lange Nacht der Forschung bricht alle Rekorde APA-OTS. 2 November 2009.Rekordbesuch bei Langer Nacht der Forschung Der Standard. 8 November 2009.
With Hahn as Minister of Science Austria finally become, on 1 July 2008, the 14th member of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), which astronomers had been calling for Austria to join for over thirty years.Astronomie: In den Süde, zu den Sternen Die Presse 23 April 2008. Hahn himself stated that joining ESO had been one of the most significant political decisions in the field of research for 20 years, from which not only astronomers but also physicists, mathematicians, software specialists and high-tech companies would benefit.Wissenschafter freuen sich über ESO-Beitritt Die Presse 24 April 2009. At the beginning of 2009, contracts had been formulated that will benefit Austrian scientists to the total amount of 5 million euro,Hochleistungsrechner für Wiener Astronomen Der Standard 21 January 2009. leading to a boom in the field of Austrian astronomy.Der Blick nach oben boomt Der Standard 2 July 2008.