Letter is available
ÖVP has now filed a lawsuit against Gewessler
The ÖVP has reacted extremely angrily to the unilateral action of Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) with regard to the EU renaturation law and has announced a lawsuit. On Thursday, the threat will be carried out and a criminal complaint for abuse of office will be filed with the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office.
In the complaint, which is available to the "Krone", the ÖVP argues that the Green Minister should not have simply voted yes because the federal states still have a negative attitude. This is because "regardless of the opinions expressed by individual federal states" - i.e. the SPÖ-led states of Vienna and Carinthia, which dropped out - the unified opinion of the Conference of State Governors from April is still valid.
ÖVP sees violation of Federal Ministries Act
ÖVP Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig should also have agreed. However, he clearly rejects the renaturation ordinance. By giving her approval at the EU Environment Council on Monday without obtaining Totschnig's agreement, Gewessler violated Section 5 of the Federal Ministries Act, according to the statement of facts. This gives rise to the suspicion that the criminal offense of "abuse of official authority" has been committed.
The opinion that the Environment Minister was not authorized to go it alone was also reached by the expert opinion of the Constitutional Service in the Federal Chancellery. Gewessler had commissioned her own expert reports, which certified that her actions were legally covered. She was therefore relaxed about the charges of abuse of office.
The criminal complaint also refers to these "private expert opinions" that the Green politician obtained. These would not clearly allow her to disregard the negative opinion of the federal states and the lack of agreement with the Minister of Agriculture. This is because the expert opinions mainly refer to "good reasons" or "better arguments", argues the ÖVP complaint, written by the law firm of lawyer Werner Suppan.
Excerpt from the abuse of office complaint:
"Knowingness sufficiently documented"
The opinions obtained shortly before the vote would therefore show that Gewessler was aware "that her planned and announced project was obviously unlawful and unconstitutional", according to the criminal complaint. Her knowledge of the "abuse of authority" was therefore sufficiently documented. Knowingness must be present in order to fulfill the offence of abuse of official authority.
Long prison sentence possible
A conviction for abuse of authority in Austria carries a prison sentence of between six months and five years. If the damage caused exceeds 50,000 euros, a prison sentence of up to ten years is theoretically possible.
There is no mention of any damage in the complaint, but the Association of Municipalities sees enormous financial problems ahead due to the implementation of the renaturation ordinance. It is therefore demanding full reimbursement of costs from the Ministry of Climate Protection.
Gewessler remains calm
The reported minister remained unimpressed on Thursday. "I am very relaxed about any legal action," Gewessler told journalists on the fringes of the Austrian World Summit (AWS) in Vienna. She had approved the renaturation law in accordance with the law, "and I am not only following the legal situation, but also many years of practice", she emphasized, referring to the veto of Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) against the Schengen accession of Romania and Bulgaria, which was supported by the Greens, as an example. Gewessler once again praised the renaturation decision as a "victory for nature": "I am very happy that I was able to make a contribution to this."
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