Overview
- Koalitionsausschuss leaders agreed on July 2 to limit the Federal Information Freedom Act by requiring a demonstrable "berechtigtes Interesse," focusing rights on natural persons and considering a restriction to German and EU citizens living in Germany.
- The measures in the deal include blanket redaction of agency employee names, expanded protected categories such as critical infrastructure and intelligence, and aligning IFG fees with a cost‑recovery principle that could raise charges for requesters.
- The Federal Interior Ministry under Alexander Dobrindt has confirmed it is preparing a draft law to implement the Koalitionsausschuss decision, with details to be set in government processes before any parliamentary vote.
- Data‑protection authorities, journalists’ unions and transparency groups called the package a de facto rollback of two decades of transparency, warned it would exclude media and NGOs from routine requests, and said it could be discriminatory and undemocratic.
- If the draft proceeds to Bundestag debate, critics expect legal challenges on press‑freedom and constitutional grounds and warn the changes could push more information out of formal channels and toward leaks.