Constitutional Court lifts labeling requirement for content from government offices

The Constitutional Court has struck down the labeling and imprint requirements for content provided by office staff of government members and state secretaries from the Political Parties Act 2012. The annulment was promulgated on November 10, 2026, in the Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria, Part I, as BGBl. I No. 103/2026. The ruling is dated October 6, 2026, and was delivered to the Federal Chancellor on November 4, 2026.

The promulgation is carried out in accordance with Art. 140 Para. 5, 6, and 7 B-VG as well as § 64 Para. 2 of the Constitutional Court Act 1953, BGBl. No. 85/1953, last amended by the Freedom of Information Adaptation Act, BGBl. I No. 50/2025. The basis are the proceedings G 136/2025-26 and G 27/2026-17. The promulgation is signed by Stocker.

What the Constitutional Court has annulled

The ruling of the Constitutional Court comprises three interventions in the Political Parties Act 2012, each in the version BGBl. I No. 56/2012 as amended by BGBl. I No. 43/2025:

• § 2 Z 5b lit. j in its entirety, i.e., the labeling and imprint requirement for content and contributions provided by office staff,
• the word and character sequence “j,” in the introductory part of § 16 Para. 12,
• the word and character sequence “, whereby for facts realized before July 1, 2025, the requirements (labeling, imprint) formulated in the last half-sentence of § 2 Z 5b lit. j shall be omitted” in the same provision.

With the second and third annulments, the transitional rule, which provided an exception from labeling and imprints for facts realized before July 1, 2025, also lapses.

From the 2025 Amendment to the Budget Accompanying Act 2027-2028

The affected letter was only introduced into the Political Parties Act 2012 with the amendment BGBl. I No. 43/2025. The Budget Accompanying Act 2027-2028, BGBl. I No. 62/2026, promulgated on July 29, 2026, rewrote it again in Article 8:

• The phrase “federal or state government members” was replaced by “members of the federal government, state secretaries, or members of the state government”.
• In place of “in the respective imprint” came “in the course of disclosure within the meaning of § 25 of the Media Act, BGBl. No. 314/1981”.
• The previous § 16 Para. 12 received the paragraph designation “(13)”; a new Para. 14 regulated the entry into force and contained the now-annulled transitional provision.

With the ruling of October 6, 2026, this regulatory path is no longer applicable after the promulgation.

No revival, immediate effect

The Constitutional Court stated in point 2 of its ruling that previous statutory provisions shall not come back into force. Point 3 orders that the annulled provisions are no longer to be applied.

For practice, this means:

• There is no continuing effect of the old legal situation for future content and contributions.
• For facts realized before July 1, 2025, it remains the case that labeling and imprint are omitted — however, no longer due to an exception, but because the requirements themselves have been eliminated.
• The repeal has a direct effect on the communication and media work of the Federal Government, the State Secretaries, and the State Governors, including their offices.

The announcement reflects the ruling of the Constitutional Court; the reasoning for the decision is not included therein. The provisions subject to the proceedings are part of the financing and transparency law for parties regulated by federal constitutional law according to the Parties Act 2012.

With the elimination of the labeling and imprint obligation, editorial offices and the public lose a formal labeling layer for content from government and state secretariat offices. Whether such labeling will be secured in the future on another legal basis, for example via disclosure under the Media Act, is left open by the announcement.

Source: Federal Law Gazette for the Republic of Austria, Part I, No. 103/2026 of November 10, 2026, announcement of the Federal Chancellor (official reference: BGBl. I No. 103/2026).