From 1976 to 1980 Schausberger was president of the youth organisation of ÖVP Salzburg and was member of the Landtag of Salzburg from 1979 to 1996. From 1979 to 1989 he was General Secretary of ÖVP Salzburg. Between 1989 and 1996 he was chairman of the parliamentary group of ÖVP in the Landtag of Salzburg. During the years as Landeshauptmann of Salzburg, from 1996 to 2004, he initiated among others • the construction of the
football stadium Salzburg-Kleßheim, • the construction of the
Museum der Moderne Salzburg on the
Mönchsberg, • the reconstruction of the
Kleines Festspielhaus (House for Mozart) • the construction of the
Museum Carolino Augusteum at the Mozartplatz and • the foundation of the
Paracelsus Private Medical University of Salzburg. In negotiations between 1997 and 2001 Schausberger was able to reach the financial assurance of the responsible ministries for • the modification of the
Mozarteum University Salzburg as well as for • the construction of the university campus
Unipark Nonntal. After ÖVP’s loss of relative majority at the regional elections in 2004 Schausberger resigned from all political offices in Salzburg. His successor as Landeshauptmann was Gabriele Burgstaller (
SPÖ). Since 1996 Schausberger is the representative of Land Salzburg to the
Committee of the Regions (CoR) of the
European Union. From 2004 to 2006 he was chairman of the CoR’s Commission for Constitutional Affairs and European Governance, since January 2006 he is Vice-president of the
European People's Party (EPP) in the CoR. He has chaired the CoR's Western Balkans Working Group for several years. In October 2016 he was appointed Special Adviser for
EU enlargement, in particular for the
Balkans and
Ukraine by the
European Commission. Since July 2020, Schausberger has been serving as a special advisor on education in emergencies, migration and inclusion to
European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn. ==Academic life==