After many concerns, the turquoise-green government is currently revising the draft law to abolish official secrecy. The new draft should be available by June at the latest, Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) told the news magazine “profil”: “We are now finalizing the draft law. We plan to do that in the first half of 2023.” Green negotiating circles confirmed the schedule.
Work has been going on for years to abolish official secrecy. Most recently, Edtstadler and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) made a few rounds with those affected, because resistance in the communities, for example, is high because of the feared bureaucracy. For small communities without legal staff, the data protection authority should offer legal advice, Edtstadler said.
In the APA interview at the end of December, Edtstadler “firmly assumed” that the Freedom of Information Act would be implemented in this legislative period and announced adjustments to the draft to abolish official secrecy. In January, Kogler told the APA that he was still optimistic that the reform would be completed and decided on in the coming months.