Renaturation case

Complaint against Gewessler now a case for the WKStA

Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

The Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA) is now to examine the complaint filed by the People's Party against Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) for abuse of office. Originally, the statement of facts was submitted to the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office.

However, they do not consider themselves primarily responsible for this. "We have submitted it to the WKStA", authority spokeswoman Nina Bussek told APA on Friday afternoon. She went on to explain that the Vienna public prosecutor's office had not clarified whether there was sufficient initial suspicion to consider or initiate concrete investigations against Gewessler. This assessment is left to the WKStA.

ÖVP: "Authority abused"
In its complaint, the ÖVP accuses Gewessler of having "knowingly exercised her authority (...) improperly" by approving the EU renaturation regulation because she had not reached an agreement with the federal provinces and the ÖVP-led Ministry of Agriculture.

(Bild: Wolfgang Spitzbart)

Gewessler's actions at EU level were "unlawful under Austrian domestic law and violate the relevant constitutional and simple legal requirements", the statement of facts states.

From the ÖVP's point of view, the EU regulation on nature conservation concerns matters in which legislation is also a matter for the federal states. In November 2022, the federal provinces issued a uniform negative opinion on this, which was supplemented by a further uniform opinion from the provinces in May 2023.

A deviation from a uniform opinion of the federal states is only possible for compelling integration and foreign policy reasons, which are not evident here, the complaint complains.

Minister unimpressed by complaint
Gewessler appeared unimpressed after the ÖVP complaint was filed. "I am very relaxed about any legal action," she said on the fringes of the Austrian World Summit (AWS) on June 20 in Vienna.

She had agreed to the renaturation law in accordance with the law, "and I am not only following the legal situation, but also many years of practice". Gewessler described the EU's renaturation decision as a "victory for nature" and said she was "very pleased that I was able to make a contribution to this".