At the end of the last regular National Council meeting During this legislative period, the MPs made two decisions, the basis for which had only been laid this morning in the relevant committee meetings. The five members of the Parliamentary Data Protection Committee, which will act as Parliament’s supervisory authority in data protection matters from 2025, were unanimously elected.
There was a large majority in favor of the extradition of FPÖ mandate Markus Leinfellner, against whom the Graz public prosecutor’s office wants to investigate on suspicion of incitement. Numerous requests for deadlines from the Freedom Party remained in the minority.
The composition of the Parliamentary Data Protection Committee has been determined
The lawyers Gerhard Baumgartner, Christian Bergauer, Philipp Grasser, Sandra Huber and Eva Souhrada-Kirchmayer will form the Parliamentary Data Protection Committee from January 2025. They were made using Overall proposal unanimously elected as members of the newly created supervisory authority. The election is only final once the Federal Council has approved it with a two-thirds majority.
From 2025, the Parliamentary Data Protection Committee will be established as a supervisory authority for the National Council, the Federal Council, the Court of Auditors and the Ombudsman in data protection matters. Parliament created the legal basis before the summer to take into account a finding by the European Court of Justice that the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also applies to parliamentary work. The members of the committee are elected for a term of office of five years and are expected to hold office alongside their professional activities.
All five experts have a broad knowledge of data protection, emphasized Eva-Maria Himmelbauer (ÖVP). She is convinced that they will do their job well. Michaela Steinacker (ÖVP) spoke of “high-ranking” experts who could be won over to the committee. Agnes Sirkka Prammer (Greens) also said that suitable people had been found. But she would have liked the ordering process to be different. A hearing with all people and parties “would have been even nicer,” said the MP. Georg Bürstmayr (Greens) used his speech to emphasize that democracy is not a given and is a valuable achievement, even if it seems “a bit boring sometimes”.
Graz public prosecutor’s office is allowed to investigate MP Leinfellner
With a broad majority – without the votes of the FPÖ – the National Council of the official persecution of the liberal MP Markus Leinfellner agreed. The Graz public prosecutor’s office wants to investigate the mandatary on suspicion of incitement. Leinfellner is said to have said at a school discussion in Graz in the run-up to the EU election that people who eat pork were less likely to blow themselves up than others, media reported. The National Council sees a connection to Leinfellner’s work as a member of parliament, but agreed to official prosecution.
Leinfellner has been a member of the National Council since July 16, when he moved to the European Parliament following Petra Steger’s move. Because there was no National Council meeting over the summer, the mandatary was only sworn in at the beginning of today’s plenary day. The Freedom Party was previously a member of the Federal Council.
Christian Ragger (FPÖ) identified an incident that was created “deliberately”. The National Council does not have to make an assessment, but only to assess whether there is a legal obligation for extradition. Since Leinfellner’s statement is related to his political activity, this is not the case, said Ragger.
Farewell and closing words
Eva-Maria Himmelbauer and Michaela Steinacker (both ÖVP), who are no longer running for office in parliament in the National Council election, also used their speeches to say farewell. Himmelbauer was pleased with the important steps that had been taken in the area of digitalization during her twelve years as a member of parliament. Steinacker looked back on eleven years as a member of parliament, during which significant reforms were implemented in the justice sector. There are forces that would work against democracy and the rule of law. It is important to counteract these. “It is not the law that follows politics, but politics must follow the applicable law,” she emphasized.
National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka also took stock of the 27th legislative period at the last regular meeting before the election. The record number of 276 plenary sessions and 1,044 committee meetings, including 105 meetings of the main committee, make it clear that the Austrian Parliament is a working parliament. He thanked the MPs, the parliamentary staff and all club employees for their work as well as the parliamentary management for the “tremendous achievement” that comes with supporting the parliamentary work. Sobotka also expressed special thanks to the members of the Presidential Conference – the Second President of the National Council Doris Bures, the Third President of the National Council Norbert Hofer and the club chairmen. Parliament is sometimes said to lack the necessary respect in heated discussions. However, personal encounters in the corridors of the house and the appreciative behavior in the committees show that the National Council has a good sense of togetherness. He also thanked all MPs for this and wished those who are leaving after this legislative period all the best.
FPÖ fails with 22 requests for a deadline
At the end of the meeting, the MPs voted on a number of requests to set deadlines. The FPÖ wanted to set a deadline of tomorrow, September 19th, for various committees to process a total of 22 applications. The demands concerned one Tax exemption for the utilization of damaged wooddie Compensation for financial damage in the event of storm disastersone Standardization of sports funding processingone Expansion of the daily exercise unit to schools throughout Austriaone Strategy “against the Ukrainian threat to our energy supply”the Conclusion of further readmission agreementsa “No” to Sky Shielddie Disclosure of “investigation commission reports” on ORF, financial improvements for the executive branch, Improvements for foster parentsthe Reducing age discrimination and one Reform of child support law.
In addition, the Freedom Party’s demands for one wanted to be dealt with in this legislative period De-attractiveness of Austria as a destination country for migrants, Deportations to Afghanistan and Syriadem Cash protectionone “Stop immigration” to the Austrian welfare state, Measures against medication shortagesone Extension of the Electricity Price Compensation Act, against genderafter one Implementation of the Vienna Outer Ring Expressway, Relief for agriculture and one General amnesty for COVID-19 penalties. All requests for a deadline remained in the minority. (Continuation of the National Council) kar
NOTE: Meetings of the National Council and the Federal Council can also be followed via live stream and are available as video-on-demand in the Parliament’s media library available.