Austria's Court of Audit finds 32 of 43 reviewed ministry payments tied to political parties were improper and uneconomical in several respects
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In a report covered by ORF and APA on 2 October 2026, Austria's Court of Audit (Rechnungshof) reviewed payments by federal ministries to political parties and income from transactions with parties between January 2020 and July 2024, when the ÖVP-Green coalition governed. It identified a volume of EUR 5.11 million and examined 43 cases worth EUR 2.68 million in detail. Of those, 32 were, according to ORF's account of the report, not in order and not economical in several respects, and only eleven were documented well enough for the auditors to trace. The Court of Audit said the review showed benefits for individual people in the recipient group but gave no indication of structured or systematic favouring of one or more parties by the ministries. ORF reports that most of the flawed cases (six) involved the Agriculture Ministry, with five each at the Education and Justice Ministries; it also reports that the Court of Audit criticised the Justice Ministry for awarding management of its 'Jailshop' webshop by direct award even after a 2019 decision to continue it permanently. The report states findings of non-compliance and cost-effectiveness, not criminal findings.
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