2023-12-20 06:05:37
The Freedom of Information Act with the abolition of official secrecy is about to be passed. The SPÖ has agreed with the coalition on changes to the government draft and is now ready to contribute its votes for the necessary constitutional majority. As the club’s deputy chairman Jörg Leichtfried reported to the APA, significant improvements had been achieved “in order to finally bring transparency to the Austrian offices.”
People in the coalition were also satisfied. In a written statement, Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) thanked the SPÖ for its cooperation and emphasized that a “paradigm change” was successful. In the future, transparency will be the rule and secrecy the exception. The modern state meets the citizens’ need for information and at the same time ensures a functioning administration.
Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) speaks of a “monumental cultural change”. Citizens now know better how the federal, state and local governments as well as offices, authorities and state-affiliated companies work for them. Everyone has a basic right to information.
The SPÖ claims that in the future – the law is due to come into effect in 2025 – all administrative bodies will be required to provide information, regardless of what legal form they take, for example the public prosecutor’s office. According to the SPÖ, gaps will also be closed in state-owned companies: not only those with more than 50 percent formal state ownership will have to provide information in the future, but also those that are actually controlled by the state. New additions include Austria archyde news, Association and Control Bank.
The exception to the obligation to provide information for municipal associations will no longer apply, even if the municipalities as an association have fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. Leichtfried describes the fact that municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants only have to provide information upon request as a “downer”.
After the government draft was presented, another passage also attracted criticism. If the provision of information interferes with the rights of another, “the responsible body must inform and hear them beforehand if possible,” it says there. This was interpreted as a hindrance to media work.
The SPÖ has taken on the issue. The authorities are now obliged to refrain from the otherwise required notification to the affected third parties if this would lead to restrictions on the right to freedom of expression. The only requirement for this is that this is announced to the authorities (by a journalist).
Official secrecy regarding parliamentary questions will be abolished. Only a few particularly serious reasons for confidentiality will be able to justify refusing to answer in the future. These include intelligence information, particularly sensitive data from citizens or imminent decisions (such as the planned implementation of official controls or house searches).
In principle, the draft law provides for an obligation to provide information: This affects 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, although the exceptions mentioned above apply to smaller municipalities.
Leichtfried saw a “historic agreement” that represented a cultural change in the administration. His party has been pushing for the abolition of official secrecy for many years. This is overdue.
The Freedom of Information Act is expected to be passed in January. Before that, an expert hearing will be scheduled in the Constitutional Committee. Freedom of information should then apply from summer 2025.
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