IFG abolition: SPD faction opposes Vice Chancellor

It comes as no surprise to anyone that Jens Spahn, Markus Söder, Alexander Dobrindt and Friedrich Merz are not fans of the Freedom of Information Act (IFG). The law has brought unpleasant details to Spahn’s mask scandal in recent yearsSöder’s billion-dollar disaster surrounding the Munich main line and Dobrindt’s illegal border controls The fact that the SPD leadership around Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil voted in the coalition committee together with the Union politicians to abolish the IFG leads to resistance – not only in civil society, but also within the SPD.

The public pressure against the decision is noticeable: More than 400,000 people have already signed our petition. More than 115 organizations are calling for the project to be stoppedincluding the taz, Human Rights Watch, Greenpeace and Transparency International Germany. Now there is also resistance among the Social Democrats themselves: the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag has announced that it will refuse to support the party leadership. The MPs will not agree to “abolishing the current level of transparency”, according to an internal paper from the group that we are publishing.

According to MPs, existing exceptions in the IFG are sufficient to protect security. In fact, the law already provides for thisto withhold information to protect internal security, external security and public safety.

Abolition from the Ministry of the Interior launched

The head of the SPD youth organization Jusos, Philipp Türmer, had previously criticized the coalition committee’s decision in clear terms. The SPD representative for the IFG in the Bundestag, Johannes Schätzl, also described the planned abolition of the IFG as a “very bad compromise”. The party leadership around Klingbeil apparently did not involve the MPs before making its decision.

It is now also clear who initiated the surprising decision in the coalition committee: According to information from FragDenStaat, ministerial officials from the ÖS (Public Security) department have been working for months to gradually abolish the IFG. A “wish list” has been circulating in the ministry for some time, according to which the law should be gutted. The ÖS department is known as the extremely conservative core of the ministry. The career of ex-secret service chief Hans-Georg Maaßen began here.

Under the increasingly authoritarian Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, officials apparently see their chance to abolish the law that bothers them. In advance of the coalition committee, the Interior Ministry asked all Union-led federal ministries which parts of the IFG they wanted to abolish. When we asked, the ministry did not comment on the events.

Cracks in the SPD line

After Saskia Esken had to vacate the SPD party chairmanship, the party leadership is missing a committed advocate for freedom of information. In interviews, Klingbeil appears to be extremely poorly informed about his own decision. For example, he said this in the TagesschauNGOs are likely to continue making inquiries in the future. However, that is not true. Legal entities should be excluded from inquiries in the future.

The fact that, in view of all this, the SPD parliamentary group is also resisting the plans of its leadership is a good sign. But that alone will not be enough to save the IFG. Already in Berlin The state IFG was de facto abolished under the guise of security interests – with the participation of the SPD. Therefore, public pressure must continue to increase. D64 now has sample applications for local branches of the SPD and Union to contact the party executive. Sign our petition now!

→on the position paper of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag

→Sample applications for local associations of the SPD and Union

→ Petition against IFG abolition