Are Austria's online notaries the most modern in Europe?

In Austria, it is possible to found companies, buy or sell real estate or have powers of attorney notarised entirely digitally, remotely and online. This is made possible not only by a favourable legal framework, but also by Austria’s notaries, who – and not just since spring 2020 – are among the most modern notaries in Europe.

Online notary appointments have been possible in Austria since the start of the coronavirus pandemic

For more than two years now, Austrian notaries have been able to offer (almost) all notarial services online and digitally. This makes Austria a pioneer in this field. Hardly any other European country has taken such a bold path – in hardly any other European country are notarial services available online to the same extent as in Austria.

However, this pioneering role in digitalisation can only be credible if online notarisations and online notarial deeds are possible not only in law but also in practice. Austria’s notaries put this into practice every day and thus make a decisive contribution to Austria as a business location.

The Austrian notarial profession is experienced with digital solutions

Even before the pandemic and the resulting legal framework for online notarial deeds, Austria’s notaries were among the most modern in Europe. Since 2000, all Austrian notaries have been working with cyberDOC, the electronic document archive of the Austrian notarial profession. In doing so, the notaries brought the archiving and delivery of documents into the electronic age. To put this in perspective: 2000 was the year the cult mobile phone Nokia 3310 was launched and “Anton aus Tirol” was number one in the charts.

Online GmbH formation as the first use case

Since 2019, the Austrian notarial profession has made it possible to form a GmbH online. This made Austria the first EU member state after Estonia to offer a way of forming a GmbH digitally and online that is compatible with the EU Digitalisation Directive. Most member states (including the major economies of France and Germany) still do not offer this option, despite the transposition deadline having passed.

Austria therefore has the most modern notaries in Europe. Combined with the right legal framework, this makes Austria the clear frontrunner and role model for online notarial deeds and online notarisations.

Read more about digitalisation in Austria here.

Further information on e-government can be found here.