Overview:

• There exists a recognition system.

• The stipulation that “members of religious groups not legally recognized may practice their religion at home “insofar as this practice is neither unlawful nor offends common decency” seems suspect for a democratic nation.

• The clarity that the government provides in the structure of its recognition system is admirable, however, the very fact that it is highly structured means that it ventures into being bureaucratic. Austria is the opposite of some countries that have ambiguous recognition systems, however, having too many stipulations in one’s recognition system often ends in violating religious freedoms.

• Excessive stipulations such as meeting membership quotas and for it to have existed for a stipulated amount of time; these requirements are clearly targeting new religious movements and widely contravene the Durham principles.

Positive elements:

• The system establishes different categories for communities, denominations (called societies).

Recommendations:

• Disestablish the three-pronged system that relies on vertical recognition and possesses inappropriate requirements.