Green light also for changes to the E-Government Act and exception for tourism advertising in the Media Transparency Act
Vienna (PK) – As we continue today National Council Day MPs gave the green light to three further coalition proposals. They supported an amendment to the Civil Service Act, which would give civil servants the right to a “dad month” upon the birth of a child. In addition, in the future, community service can be interrupted and divided for special economic or family reasons. Further regulations include, among other things, the expansion of preferred community service organizations and authorization for specialist medical examinations.
The MPs also cleared the way for a change to the e-government law. This creates the legal basis for further digitization steps in administration. Key points include an explicit obligation for those responsible in the public sector to communicate with each other digitally.
An expansion of the exemption for tourism advertising abroad in the Media Transparency Act also cleared its hurdle in the National Council. At the end of the day, the MPs finally debated numerous reports from the Court of Auditors and accepted them unanimously.
“Papa month” for civil servants
With the one proposed by the government Amendment to the Civil Service Act The circle of preferred community service organizations should be expanded to include geriatric care facilities and hospitals. In addition, it is planned to allow community service workers to share their community service once for particularly important economic or family reasons. The prerequisite for this is a corresponding agreement with the desired community service institution. Furthermore, civil servants should in future be able to take advantage of a “dad month” when a child is born. A response is also being made to the increasing number of people refusing to do community service for medical reasons. For this purpose, authorization is provided for the civil service agency to commission specialist medical examinations. Anyone who has to perform extraordinary community service – for example as a result of a catastrophe or a special emergency – will in future receive 30 days off work per year. The corresponding government proposal was approved by a majority.
Lukas Brandweiner (ÖVP) reported on the federal government’s improvements for community service such as higher basic pay or the free climate ticket and described the day of the decision as a “happy day for community service”.
Michael Seemayer (SPÖ) signaled his approval, but doubted that the change in the law would address the actual challenges and that this would make community service more attractive. For example, he called for the reasons for the increasing unfitness to be looked at and called for measures to improve the health of children and young people.
With the change in the law, community service will be modernized, made more attractive and adapted to the 21st century, David Stögmüller (Greens) also welcomed the change for the “main pillar of our social system”.
Karl-Arthur Arlamovsky (NEOS) spoke of a “band-aid” for a system that doesn’t work, rather than a reform. Although he supported parts such as the introduction of “Papa Month”, he criticized the fact that the health system had been made dependent on civilian servants and that the health system was not being reformed.
Further developments in e-government
With a Amendment to the E-Government Act The legal basis for further digitization steps in administration should be created. The core points of the ÖVP and Greens proposal include an explicit obligation for those responsible in the public sector to communicate with each other digitally. But citizens are also given freedom to choose the form of communication they have with public bodies. In the future, when registering for an e-ID or for ID Austria, it will be possible to use an already registered photo of the passport or ID card or the e-card. In addition, it should be made clear that an electronic ID card has the legal quality and usability of an official photo ID card vis-à-vis authorities and courts. The proposal was approved by a majority.
Gerald Loacker (NEOS) described the change in the law as an “anti-e-government law” and demanded that not everything had to be offered in paper form. This is “backward looking” and “cheap populism”.
Eva-Maria Himmelbauer (ÖVP), on the other hand, spoke out in favor of the ÖVP’s pragmatic approach to freedom of choice for citizens between analogue and digital access, in which there should be no disadvantages, and welcomed the planned further digitization steps in public administration.
Katharina Kucharowits (SPÖ) supported the change in the law due to its “practical” elements and also emphasized the importance of freedom of choice in the type of communication. In this context, she criticized the fact that there is currently no freedom of choice, for example when it comes to the craftsman bonus.
Gerhard Deimek (FPÖ) supported the digitalization of official channels and communication between authorities and found it just as important to continue to ensure analog interfaces for citizens.
Digital solutions are popular with people, said Süleyman Zorba (Greens), referring to the usage figures for the digital office and Finanzonline. The template is a further step towards the digitalization of administration.
Austria is now a “front runner” in digitalization, said Digitalization State Secretary Claudia Plakolm on the occasion of the 20th birthday of e-government in Austria. The amendment is in the interests of citizens and provides the legal basis for the further digitalization of administration and digital transformation. In addition, citizens’ freedom to choose how they want to communicate with the administration is guaranteed. This will also be possible in the future with the craftsmen’s bonus, she said in the direction of the SPÖ.
Exception for tourism advertising in the Media Transparency Act
To ensure transparency, the Media Transparency Act requires the public sector to report advertisements and other paid advertising services at regular intervals. This does not apply to tourism advertising that is distributed abroad and has the sole purpose of appealing to foreign guests. However, this exception currently only applies to classic advertisements and sponsorships on TV, radio, print media and online, but not to advertising messages on posters, in cinemas, in non-periodical printed works, on public screens, on walls and on other advertising media. Now we should use Legislative proposal The coalition also wants these forms of advertising to be included in the exemption – retroactively from the beginning of 2024. The motion was accepted by a majority.
Tourism State Secretary Susanne Kraus-Winkler pointed out the importance of tourism for the economy and society. This regulation would continue the exceptions that applied to foreign tourism advertising until 2024. The State Secretary emphasized that the risk of abuse was “extremely low” given the different accountability requirements. She also referred to the many measures taken by the federal government, such as in the area of digitalization or to create a future-proof winter offer in the face of climate change.
Austrian advertising is there to work and not to create bureaucracy, Gabriel Obernosterer (ÖVP) welcomed the current changes. The media plan is publicly available for those interested. The mandatary also welcomed the new regulation of benefits in kind for company apartments as an important step to support tourism businesses. Franz Hörl (ÖVP) emphasized the importance of promoting tourism businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melanie Erasim (SPÖ) found the exceptions for tourism advertising to be too broad, as they would override any transparency in this area. She also renewed the SPÖ’s demands in tourism, such as the modernization of apprentice training or improvements for employees in this area.
Reinhold Einwallner (SPÖ) missed appreciation for tourism and its employees from the federal government and criticized the coalition’s postponement of opposition initiatives in the Tourism Committee.
The proposal shows that transparency is in contradiction to black-green government work, Thomas Spalt (FPÖ) criticized a reduction in bureaucracy at the expense of transparency. Gerald Hauser (FPÖ) identified “an incredible number of construction sites” in the tourism sector and renewed liberal demands such as promoting the preservation of hiking trails or improving the economic situation of companies. “The bottom line” is that more could have been achieved for tourism, he said.
Barbara Neßler (Greens) spoke about extending an exception and emphasized that the abuse of public advertisements could be stopped through stricter transparency regulations. She also emphasized the importance of renaturation for tourism, as guests would vacation in Austria because of the “beauty of nature”.
Tourism must be thought of as a whole and the cost factor of labor must be reduced, demanded Josef Schellhorn (NEOS). A federal spatial planning framework law is also needed, he said.
13 Court of Audit reports on a wide range of topics
At the end of the day’s sitting, MPs debated a number of Court of Audit reports, which were unanimously accepted. These dealt with something like this Federal Administrative Courtin which the review body primarily criticizes the long duration of the procedure Rehabilitation measures as well as that Punishment and enforcement of measureswhere, among other things, the overcrowding of prisons was noted housing law arbitration boards with a focus on Innsbruck and Salzburg and that Violence and victim protection for womenwhich was generally seen as having a positive development, but also in need of improvement.
They were also put to the test Education Directorateswhose main problem is the fragmentation of competences, which, according to the Court of Auditors, is lacking administrative support staff at compulsory schoolsthe School operations during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Austrian Academy of Sciences, which, among other things, identified a need for improvement in the area of transparency in the use of federal funds. Also on the agenda were reports from the Court of Auditors Vienna Film Academyto FFoQSI GmbH – Austrian Competence Centre for Feed and Food Quality, Safety and Innovation, zu Shareholder grants to Österreichische Mensen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH as well as for Austrian higher education area. (End of National Council) pst/wit
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