State Secretary (Austria)
| State Secretary | |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms of the Republic of Austria | Meeting room of the Council of Ministers in the Federal Chancellery |
|
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| position | Supreme body of the federal government |
| State authority | executive |
| founding | October 1, 1920 (Austrian Federal Constitutional Act iK October 10, originally 1760 as Minister of State ) |
| Seat | Vienna 1 , Ballhausplatz |
| Guarantee of existence | none (cf. Art. 78 Para. 2 B-VG ) |
| Website | bundeskanzleramt.at |
In Austria, state secretaries are the highest political office holders in the executive branch alongside the federal government .
In the current federal government Kurz II, there is a State Secretary Magnus Brunner ( ÖVP , in the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology ) and Andrea Mayer ( The Greens , in the Federal Ministry for Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport ) a state secretary.
About the function
The state secretaries belong - alongside the Federal President , the Federal Ministers and the members of the state governments - to the highest executive bodies of the federal government ( Art. 19 Para. 1 B-VG ). According to Art. 78 Para. 2 B-VG, they are appointed like ministers when forming a government, but formally do not belong to the federal government . They take part in the Council of Ministers meetings as advisory members and are bound by the instructions of the respective government member (i.e. ministerial minister or Federal Chancellor).
The number is not fixed, but depending on the government's intentions , State Secretaries are entrusted with those portfolios that require special attention and care, and they support the ministers to whose ministry they are assigned, or the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor Minister ( State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery ) . In contrast to the federal ministers, however, the state secretaries have no (direct and / or immediate) authority to issue instructions to the officials of the respective ministry. In the case of a coalition government , the state secretary often comes from a different party than the minister. He then serves as a “watchdog” in the coalition partner's department, i.e. ensures that the coalition agreements are implemented in the interests of the other coalition partner.
The regular highest ministerial officials are the section heads or section heads . The Federal Ministries Act also provides that the respective head of department (minister or commissioned state secretary) can entrust a secretary general “with the comprehensive handling of all business within the scope of the federal ministry” . Unlike the state secretaries, the latter has the authority to issue instructions to the subordinate section heads.
At the time of the provisional governments 1918–1920 and 1945, the ministers (head of a division of the government) in Austria were called state secretaries , today's state secretaries were called undersecretaries .
See also
- Federal Minister (Austria) #Current Federal Government
- List of State Secretaries in the Federal Chancellery (Austria)
- Secretary General (Austrian Ministries)
