The Independent Party Transparency Senate (UPTS) has imposed significant fines on the ÖVP, NEOS, and the Greens, mainly due to prohibited party donations. The Greens were hit the hardest, having to pay over 100,000 euros. All three parties have announced they will file an appeal. Together with the SPÖ, they aim to pursue a clarifying legal amendment.
The basis for the fines is a report by the Court of Audit from last year, which dealt with various social media accounts in government offices. That staff from the ministries also authored party-political content was seen by the Court as an inadmissible party donation. The UPTS has now agreed with this and imposed the penalties.
Nehammer pages lead to €50,000 fine
The ÖVP is affected by the social media activities of former Chancellor Karl Nehammer. Here, the Senate states in its decision available to APA that there was a takeover of personnel costs by the federal government for the social accounts operated by the ÖVP as media owner. This inadmissible donation is penalized with €50,637. An additional €6,000—this time to the Upper Austrian ÖAAB—is added because a donation was reported late.
The same offense applies to the Greens of Lower Austria, who must pay a penalty of €7,000. The UPTS decisions are harsher for the party regarding the social media activities of former Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler and former Justice Minister Alma Zadic. €57,803 is levied for Kogler, €40,215 for Zadic. Again, an inadmissible donation is assumed due to party-political posts.
City of Vienna also made inadmissible “donation”
The NEOS are also affected, specifically through former Vienna Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr. In his case, an inadmissible donation by the City of Vienna is assumed in the form of the takeover of personnel and material costs for co-management of the social media accounts. The penalty amounts to €70,956.
The Court of Audit also identified a violation in the case of Burgenland Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ), regarding his Facebook account. However, the UPTS has discontinued proceedings in this case.
Legal clarification planned
Nevertheless, the SPÖ is on board when it comes to a revision of the regulations. It concerns an area that is not legally regulated in Austria and has not yet been conclusively adjudicated, according to a joint press release by the four parties.
Between “this unclear legal situation and the contemporary political communication practices,” there exists a grey area, which—according to the legal interpretations of the Court of Audit and UPTS—could potentially have far-reaching negative consequences at all levels, from state to municipal. To achieve legal certainty for all involved, the federal government has already started to develop a clear, practical, and unambiguous legal basis. The Greens also support the development of such a basis. A corresponding legislative initiative should be adopted as soon as possible.
