Pandemic, war, natural disasters: the government wants to be better prepared for crises in the future. After about a year, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner (both ÖVP) and Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) presented the long-awaited new crisis security law on Tuesday. The key points are the definition of a crisis, the construction of a situation center under the Ministry of the Interior and efficient coordination between authorities and aid organizations.
“Good things take time,” Karner said. The government needed more time for the new law because some things had changed with the war in Ukraine and new aspects, such as comprehensive national defense, had to be included, Tanner explains. Due to pandemics, terror, hybrid warfare and the risk of blackouts, society is confronted with more and more crises. “Crises are becoming more common, more diverse and challenging, and they need clear answers,” Karner says.
Tackle up to three crises at once
At the heart of the reshuffle, a federal situation center should be established at the Ministry of the Interior in Vienna. Construction will start in mid-2023 and the center should be ready in two years. On more than 2000 square meters, developments in the field of safety, health and energy are continuously monitored. This should make it possible to tackle up to three crises simultaneously. With all the trimmings, the federal situation center should cost 50 million euros.
Due to the Crisis Security Act, further legislative changes are necessary. For example, the Registration Act is being amended so that in the event of a crisis, a link request can be made in the Central Register of Residents (ZMR). It is not only possible to search by name, but also by other search criteria. The changes to the military law and the federal constitution are about expanding the auxiliary area for the federal army. In the future, this should include crises in addition to natural disasters and accidents of exceptional magnitude.
“An adequate response” to the many crises of our time “is essential,” explains Tanner. The demands on the actors are increasing, “the security policy environment is deteriorating more and more”. The law “created for the first time at the federal level a legal framework for crisis prevention and management”. For the armed forces, the law means further expanding self-sufficiency, so that the armed forces can distribute ‘systemic goods’ and supply blue light organizations in the event of a crisis. “We will continue to intensify and expand our self-sufficiency efforts,” says Tanner.
“We have learned from Corona”
For the first time, the new law defines a crisis and the associated organs and processes uniformly. Legal clarifications are intended to ensure cooperation between federal, state and local authorities, blue light organizations and NGOs. The law is the legal framework for good cooperation, Rauch added. And in the healthcare sector, it provides for expansion of storage for vaccines, protective equipment and other healthcare products. They want to give this a new foundation to be safer in the future, Rauch said. “We learned that from Corona,” he explains.
The bill now has to be examined for six weeks and passed to parliament in the spring. After the law is passed, the government coordinator and a deputy in charge of intelligence coordination will be advertised by the Federal Chancellery.
Source: Krone
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