Doubts are growing regarding the justification for the proposed reform of the Federal Freedom of Information Act (IFG). Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius recently announced the reforms, stating that access to official information would be restricted in what are alleged to be security interests, also to mitigate the danger faced by federal employees.
However, a detailed investigation by the newspaper “Der Stern” into all ministries, seeking concrete cases of threats against staff arising from the IFG, yielded no results. Not a single ministry was able to name such a case, even the ministries deemed most relevant to security matters. The Foreign Office, for example, reported that it was unaware of any cases fitting the description. Similarly, the Development Ministry and the Ministry of Justice also gave negative reports. Other ministries either stated they do not keep statistics on such incidents or declined to comment on individual cases.
Even the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for the IFG, confirmed this in response to inquiries directed to Minister Alexander Dobrindt’s office: they are not aware of any cases resulting from IFG requests that led to a threat against state employees within their jurisdiction.
Given the lack of evidence for the government’s stated rationale, two former federal Freedom of Information Commissioners, Peter Schaar and Ulrich Kelber, are now strongly criticizing the reasoning put forth by the federal government. They explained that the IFG already includes extensive exceptions concerning staff members or public safety. Schaar added that while attempts by opponents of the Federal Republic to obtain information are realistic scenarios, these attempts do not necessarily involve the operation of the IFG.
