Transparency on environmental information is one of OeKB's concerns.
Aim of the project benefit from active information
Since first attempts to consider environmental and social issues in export insurance business, experience has shown that a voluntary and active information is generally more beneficial than disadvantageous for the aim of the project. Active information of the public already goes without saying for many enterprises, and the publicity regulations of the capital markets support this trend.
More transparency on OECD-level
The amendment 2004 of the Austrian Environmental Information Act, which regulates free access of the public to environmental information which is available in the context of the assessment of export guarantees, is a further step in a process which has been initiated by the OECD’s Common Approaches on Export Credits and the Environment.
Requirements of the Austrian Environmental Information Act
The Aarhus Convention and based on it the Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC has triggered an amendment of the Austrian Environmental Information Act.
Extended obligations
This Environmental Information Act became effective as of February 14, 2005 and leads to extended obligations of public authorities to guarantee the right of access to environmental information.
Exeption from absolute confidentiality
This law thus stipulates a legal exception from the absolute confidentiality according to the Export Promotion Act (§ 5/6).
The Ministry of Finance has entrusted OeKB to handle its obligations under the Environmental Information Act.
References concerning the disclosure of environmental information in connection with applications for officially covered export guarantees have been included in the application form and in the environmental questionnaires.
Official contact
OeKB’s Project- and Environmental Analyses Department as official contact according to the Environmental Information Act (§ 9/6/2) is happy to give further information.