Austria: Simplification of environmental law and the Ministry for the Environment

The Constitutional Affairs Committee has agreed on a reform of the Ministry of the Environment. Several legislative amendments, mainly relating to environmental protection, are supposed to reform the administration of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, the Environment and Water Management. The main aim is to eliminate duplications and even triplications of roles within the Ministry. The Environment Minister Andrä Rupprechter emphasized that the implementation of the Aarhus Convention had partly been incorporated into the current reform, but certain areas had yet to be discussed with the different states.