Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) is pressing forward with a newly revised proposal to ban Islamic headscarves in Austrian schools, insisting he is confident the measure will survive constitutional review; even though a similar law was struck down in 2020 and he has no fallback plan.
The earlier ban, passed under a conservative coalition, was overturned by the Constitutional Court for singling out Islamic dress. The new version still targets coverings worn “according to Islamic traditions,” but Wiederkehr argues the legal framework and intention are fundamentally different. The original draft tried to justify the ban by citing “honor-culture behavioral obligations,” a term left undefined and widely criticized. After public pushback, the government removed that language and approved a version that introduces a general prohibition for under 14 students.
Wiederkehr says the proposal now centers on “protecting young girls,” addressing a key demand from the court, which previously faulted lawmakers for lacking adequate support measures. The minister maintains that the bill incorporates public feedback and adjusts the scope of the ban so that it ends when students reach religious majority at age 14, rather than extending through eighth grade, which can include older pupils.
Despite the legal uncertainty, Wiederkehr admits he has no “Plan B.” The bill has only just been submitted to Parliament, he said, and his responsibility is to propose legislation that meets constitutional standards. A court ruling is unlikely in the near term: although the ban would begin with an informational phase in early 2026, fines would not be issued until fall 2026, meaning a constitutional challenge would likely arise only after enforcement begins.
The government also lowered the maximum fine from €1,000 to €800 for violations and for parents who refuse to cooperate with schools, an internal coalition compromise that, according to Wiederkehr, balances the Social Democrats’ push for minimal penalties with the need to send a “clear signal” to non-cooperative families.
