This means that from September next year, public bodies will be obliged to provide information within a maximum of eight weeks. “We are turning the system 180 degrees,” said Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP). “The dusty official secrets are history,” said Green Party leader Sigrid Maurer, “with hearts crossed” – “The secrecy is over.”
The SPÖ made the decision possible with their votes. Her deputy club chairman Jörg Leichtfried then also said that an eleven-year discussion was coming to a good end: “We are bringing Austria up to date in terms of transparency.” VP constitutional spokesman Wolfgang Gerstl spoke of a final departure from the Josephinist attitude.
FPÖ and NEOS dissatisfied
The FPÖ and NEOS were surprisingly dissatisfied. Among other things, the two opposition parties agreed that the proactive obligation to provide information only applies to communities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. FP justice spokesman Harald Stefan even sees a deterioration in the current situation. You can’t simply “create first and second class people when it comes to freedom of information.”
NEOS deputy club boss Nikolaus Scherak denounced exceptions for state parliaments and chambers. In addition, the law cannot be made applicable by simple federal or state law. Just because a law is called the Freedom of Information Act does not mean that everyone has access to information. Stefan also missed some points that were included in the original draft, such as a cooling-off phase for politicians before joining the Constitutional Court.
Obligation to provide information
Essentially, the Freedom of Information Act provides for an obligation for public bodies to provide information: This applies to the administrative bodies of the federal and state governments as well as all municipalities. The bodies entrusted with the business of the federal administration and the state administration must also provide information. Non-sovereign foundations, funds, institutions and companies with decisive state influence are also required to provide information. In the case of the latter, however, their competitiveness must not be restricted.
After the application, the information should be provided within four weeks; in exceptional cases, the deadline can be extended by another four weeks. In the future, information of “general interest” must also be published “proactively” by state bodies, but not by communities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.
New rules not valid until September 2025
The changeover is happening relatively slowly. The new rules will not apply until September 2025. Edtstadler justified this, among other things, by saying that appropriate training and guidelines are needed.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) no longer spoke in the plenary session. After the Council of Ministers, he had already expressed his relief that following years of negotiations a result had been reached: “That was a damn hard plan.”
