Half a Million Signatures Pour In as Germany Moves to Curb Public Access to Official Records
Published on 07/14/2026 at 09:34 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Almost 500,000 people have added their names to a petition aimed at preserving Germany’s freedom-of-information law, as the government pushes forward with plans that critics say would effectively kill it. The petition, organised by the transparency watchdog FragDenStaat, had gathered that many signatures by yesterday. It is the most visible sign yet of resistance to a package of measures that would also strip away existing transparency rules in food-safety law.
Under the proposed changes, which emerged from a coalition committee decision on 1 July 2026, the right to request information from public authorities would be restricted to natural persons – and they would have to demonstrate a legitimate interest. Previously anyone could file a request without giving a reason. At the same time, fees for such requests are set to rise. Opponents describe the reform as a de facto abolition of the Information Freedom Act (IFG). The numbers lend weight to that view: of roughly 19,000 IFG applications made in 2025, only about half succeeded. Internationally, Germany ranks 127th in government transparency – a position the changes would likely worsen.
The food-safety side of the reform has drawn equal fire. The new bureaucracy-reduction law drafted by Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (CSU) would delete existing obligations on authorities to inform the public when hygiene violations, banned substances or limit-value exceedances are discovered. Currently laboratories and inspectors must report such findings. Under the new rules they could simply stay silent.
“Consumers need more transparency about inspections and shortcomings, not less,” said Ramona Pop, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv). Dropping the reporting duties for labs, she argued, would severely weaken consumer protection. Experts describe the move as a major step backwards from current standards.
The backlash has reached inside the governing black-red coalition itself. Yesterday SPD lawmakers declared they would not accept the dismantling of existing transparency levels. Justice Minister Hubig has announced she will review the plans. Former Federal Commissioner for Data Protection Ulrich Kelber has also waded in, urging SPD deputies to resist the restrictions. His argument: no documented case exists in which an IFG request ever endangered anyone.
Union politicians, by contrast, defend the cuts as necessary to reduce bureaucratic burdens on the administration. CSU interior-policy figures say the changes will relieve pressure on public offices. But voices from states including Saarland warn that removing the right of legal entities – such as media outlets and NGOs – to make requests would severely hinder investigative journalism.
That is no abstract concern. In recent years IFG requests have exposed irregularities in the procurement of face masks during the pandemic and brought crucial details of the nuclear phase-out review process to light. Whether those successes can continue will be decided in the weeks ahead.
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