New attempt for constitutional reform: the federal and state governments as a duty!

New attempt for constitutional reform: the federal and state governments as a duty!

A new era of constitutional reform seems to be in Austria! The Federal Government, consisting of ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS, is planning a new attempt for a constitutional convention that should reform the fundamental rights and reorganize the skills between the federal and state governments. Peter Bußjäger, a constitutional lawyer from Vorarlberg, is optimistic: "The signs are better this time," he says. This could be the key to avoid the deficiencies of the past "Austria convent" between 2003 and 2005, which ultimately ended without tangible results. As reports vorarlberg.orf.at , the focus will be on energy, health and education policy issues at the new convention.

The challenges of the distribution of competence

A central point of the planned reform is Article 12 of the Federal Constitutional Act, which regulates the competencies between the federal and state governments. Cross hunters emphasize that, among other things, the "poor system" as well as the administration of hospitals and the electricity system are affected. Currently, many skills are distributed to the countries, as in the case of child and youth welfare, where the countries are now acting independently. This reform could therefore have far -reaching consequences when it comes to distributing power and responsibility in the administration.

But the federal government needs the approval of the Federal Council as well as the support of the Greens or the FPÖ in the National Council to make these changes. In this context, the federal administration could also play a role. Article 83 of the Basic Law stipulates that the federal states execute the federal laws, unless there are special regulations that require a federal administration. In these cases, the federal government controls compliance with the laws by the federal states, which is regulated in the so -called Federal Commissioning Management, such as bpb.de . It remains to be seen whether the new reform can bring the promised progress or whether the interests of the federal states and the federal government will also collide.