"Highly unusual"

Greens provoke – new scandal in the government

Always at loggerheads: Ministers Alma Zadić and Karoline Edtstadler

(Bild: APA/BKA/Christopher Dunker)

After the renaturation dispute, the turquoise-green government is once again in a row. The Greens are once again provoking the ÖVP by suddenly wanting to change the law on cell phone confiscation, which had already been passed by the Justice Committee. A more than unusual procedure that the ÖVP cannot allow to stand.

"Justice Minister Zadić's actions are highly unusual and have left us shaking our heads in astonishment," said Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler's office in response to an inquiry from the "Krone" newspaper.

Greens refused reform for a long time
The ÖVP has been pushing for years for a new regulation on the seizure of data carriers such as cell phones because, according to the current legal situation, public prosecutors analyze everything, including data that has nothing to do with the subject of the investigation. A number of political affairs have come to light through so-called chance discoveries. The ÖVP wanted personal data on data carriers to be protected in the same way as correspondence. The Greens refused to change the law for a long time.

Always at loggerheads: Ministers Alma Zadić and Karoline Edtstadler

(Bild: APA/BKA/Christopher Dunker)

Constitutional Court forced the Greens to change the law
But then came a ruling by the Constitutional Court (VfGH), which played into the hands of the ÖVP. According to the Supreme Court, the current legal situation violates the right to privacy and the Data Protection Act - which is why the relevant passages were repealed from January 1, 2025. This forced the Greens to come to an agreement with the ÖVP. They did so and introduced the bill into the National Council. It stipulates that in future, the public prosecutor's office must define the specific content and time period for the evaluation of data. This must then be approved by the court, and only then can the public prosecutor's office order a seizure by the criminal investigation department.

The law was passed on June 18 with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens. Justice Minister Alma Zadić (Greens) has now extended the review period for the draft to six weeks and delayed the decision in the National Council planned for next week. Zadić argues that she wants to address new concerns from the judiciary. Edtstadler reacted with surprise: "We always assumed that the Ministry of Justice's draft had been agreed in advance with the relevant stakeholders in its own department."

Dispute over EU Commissioner and renaturation law
The coalition climate is - to put it politely - chilly. The final trigger was Green Minister Leonore Gewessler's approval of the EU renaturation law, which got the ÖVP up in arms. Then there was the question of the appointment of the EU Commissioner. For the time being, they are waiting for Ursula von der Leyen to be re-elected Commission President. The ÖVP wants to position one of their own - the favorite is Finance Minister Magnus Brunner.

Green Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler, however, recently said that the so-called "side letter", which regulates these personnel matters between the governing parties, is now obsolete. Club leader Sigi Maurer said the same on Wednesday on the fringes of the Council of Ministers.