On Monday, the presidents of the provinces of Austria and South Tyrol met under the chairmanship of Landtag President Harald Sonderegger. The talks focused on current projects from the climate protection ministry and the planned tax reform, about which State Secretary Magnus Brunner informed. In addition, the freedom of information package, the steps and developments of the conference on the future of Europe so far and the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic on parliamentarianism were discussed.
“I am very pleased that our autumn conference was able to take place in attendance. The direct dialogue promotes active and constructive cooperation between the state parliaments. In these demanding times in particular, it is important to take different perspectives and sound out possible synergies in order to develop viable solutions, ”said Harald Sonderegger.
With regard to the freedom of information package, which is currently still being worked out, the state parliament presidents have already made it clear several times in resolutions that from their point of view, including the organs of (state) legislation in the newly planned system of freedom of information is out of the question. Above all, this would contradict fundamental aspects of the separation of powers and possibly even interfere with the autonomy of parliaments. There would be no added value for the citizens inside.
With regard to the pandemic, the presidents exchanged views on the situation in the individual federal states. The focus was primarily on those areas in which the effects of the pandemic particularly affected parliaments or continue to affect them – for example, compliance with health requirements in the context of state parliament or committee meetings.
According to the motto “Lessons learned”, the presidents also outlined the “best practice” models of their parliamentary practice, which have proven themselves under the changing conditions of the Covid 19 pandemic. In the Vorarlberg state parliament, for example, the parliamentarians are now increasingly using the digital signature (mobile phone signature), for example when submitting self-employed applications or inquiries.
Digital accessibility
Last but not least, the state parliaments are also working to enable all citizens to participate in politics – especially in terms of the inclusion of people with disabilities. One piece in the mosaic is the digital accessibility of online offers. The Vorarlberger Landtag, for example, has “easy reading” pages on its homepage and shows sign language interpreters for simultaneous translation in the live streams of the current hour of the Landtag sessions.