The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) has taken a position on a proposed reform of the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) that could effectively lead to its abolition at the national level.

Following its 8th symposium on freedom of information, the BfDI was confronted with a government coalition reform proposal of which it was unaware. This proposal is seen as a threat to the right of access to information. The authority supports that state transparency is essential in a democratic society and that access to reliable first-hand information is a stabilizing factor and a bulwark against misinformation, especially for the media and other public interest watchdogs.

The BfDI advocates for an evolution of the IFG towards a modern transparency law, imposing proactive publication obligations on the administration. Regarding debates on security, the authority recalls that the current framework already provides numerous exclusion grounds to protect sensitive information. Its advisory and supervisory activities confirm that public bodies correctly identify interests to be protected and take security risks into account.