Federal Badges of Honor

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The Federal Decoration of Honor is a state award in Austria , embedded in the system of orders and decorations of the Republic of Austria , which is awarded for special services to the community.

Award

The award is aimed at people who have rendered services through voluntary , unpaid services in the context of voluntary organizations and volunteer initiatives in areas that affect federal matters. In the justification for the ÖVP - FPÖ initiative application from September 2001 (see background below):

"In Austria a number of volunteer organizations are active in which voluntary citizens provide services in the general interest, particularly in rescue services, disaster control, social issues, culture, sports, environmental protection, and care for young people and the elderly etc. come into play. In addition, volunteer initiatives in these areas also provide recognized services for the common good.

[...]

If achievements in these organizations and initiatives stand out in matters that are of national importance or that are factually assigned to the area of ​​competence of Art. 10 B-VG , these should be appropriately recognized by the award of the Federal Decoration of Honor. "

The award is made by the Federal Chancellor or by the Federal Minister responsible for the subject area in which the services worthy of the award have been rendered .

background

The law was introduced in the National Council on September 26, 2001 as an initiative of the then government parliamentary groups ( ÖVP-FPÖ government under Federal Chancellor Schüssel ; Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Public Services and Sport Susanne Riess-Passer ) by National Council members Andreas Khol (ÖVP) and Peter Westenthaler (FPÖ). The Federal Decoration Act was passed on October 23 in the third reading with the votes of the FPÖ and ÖVP, the MPs of the SPÖ and the Greens voted against.

While the legislative proposal was vehemently defended in the parliamentary debate by the MPs of the two government factions, the FPÖ and ÖVP, the opposition MPs who had been asked to speak were sharply critical:

Walter Posch (SPÖ) pointed out that there were already 341 medals and awards in Austria, 157 of them from the federal states , and that there was no shortage of awards. He pointed out that the "Member of Parliament Khol [wants] to explicitly say thanks to his 'civil society' after there has been a storm of desires for medals on the part of this civil society." So all great achievements are already covered by awards, rather Posch located behind the creation of the federal badge of honor with reference to the civil society ideological reasons. After all, he designated the federal medal of honor to be decided upon as the "Khol-Westenthaler medal of honor" (abbreviated to "KWEZ") after its legislators.

Even Karl Öllinger by the Greens referred to the already high number of more than 300 orders and a number of additional awards that are awarded and presented the question of why we need a new federal decorations, with the bypassed the expertise to award by the Federal President and they can be passed on to the Federal Chancellor or the Federal Ministers. He suspected “reasons that may be found in the rivalry between the Federal President and the Federal Government or Federal Chancellor. It is possible that the need arises from this that if a 'black' [ÖVP, note] minister awards a federal medal of honor, a 'blue' [FPÖ, note] minister then also wants to award a medal of honor for his clientele. "Ultimately, Öllinger pointed out that this would again be an order for men, since it is not women who are the bosses of the volunteer organizations and initiatives, but rather the women" in total, much more in terms of neighborly services [provide] to silent services that are certainly not covered by what you [ÖVP and FPÖ] want to know here with national benefits. "

Deprivation

For the first time, a section on the withdrawal of a federal award was provided for in Section 5 of the Federal Decoration of Honor Act. At the same time as it was passed in the National Council on October 23, 2001, such a paragraph was also added to the Federal Act on the Creation of an Austrian Decoration and Cross of Honor for Science and Art (there: § 8a ).

Legal bases

literature

  • State Office Directorate, Section Protocol and Awards: Federal Medals of Honor (undated). State of Styria - Office of the Styrian Provincial Government (Ed.).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Federal Decoration Act (513 / A). Request of the deputy Dr. Andreas Khol, Ing.Peter Westenthaler, colleagues on a federal law on the awarding of federal decorations (Federal Honor Law), introduced in the National Council on September 26, 2001, ( 513 / A XXI. GP - initiative application (scanned original), PDF 71 kB).
  2. ↑ a b A touch of Herzmanovsky-Orlando. National Council adopts Federal Decoration Act. In: Parliamentary Correspondence No. 700, October 23, 2001, accessed on July 29, 2018.
  3. ↑ National Council, XXI.GP - Steno Graphic Protocol - 80th meeting. Here in particular p. 132/133 and p. 135/136, accessed on July 29, 2018.