Dr. Busek began his professional career as legal advisor to the association of parliamentarians of the Austrian People's Party. He then served in a number of administrative positions, including Secretary-General of the Austrian Federation for Trade and Commerce, Secretary-General of the Austrian People's Party, Deputy-Mayor of Vienna, Minister of Science and Research, Minister of Education, Vice Chancellor of Austria, Special Rpresentative of the Austrian Government for the Enlargement of the European Union and Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe. Currently he is Chairman of the Institute for the Danube region and Central Europe (IDM), President of the Vienna Economic Forum (VEF), Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and Jean Monnet Professor ad personam.