Provincial governors have drawn up a 33-point paper on the country’s future relationship with the EU, due to be discussed on Friday.
Demands include proposals for Austria to take back control of its environmental regulations on things like soil protection and water systems.
It has led to criticism from the head of conservation charity WWF, who warned against the “weakening of EU environmental policy”.
There is also brewing conflict over the “Natura 2000” network of protected areas which are presided over by the European Commission.
Alongside its complaints of interference, Austrian politicians actually want more action from Brussels on key areas like border policy and funding for farmers.
The east of the country is particularly troubled by workers pouring in and living more cheaply because they do not have to pay into the country’s social system.
Anti-EU feeling is mounting after Sebastian Kurz, who has taken a hard line on immigration, topped the polls in last month’s election.
His Austrian People’s Party is expected to form a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which has long campaigned against the bloc.
There is speculation Austria could join the Visegrad nations, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, which are already a thorn in the side of Brussels.
With Austria soon to take over the presidency of the EU Council, experts have claimed joining the group of anti-immigration states could give Austria a chance to influence decisions in a way it currently cannot.
Political scientist Paul Luif warned Europhiles that Austria’s lack of “close cooperation partners in the EU” makes it all the more necessary for the nation to “broaden its point of view”.
Mr Kurz has started talks with the FPO after his party won a parliamentary election with 31.5 per cent of the vote.
He has repeatedly said that any government must have a clear pro-European orientation.
But he also wants the EU to slim down and focus mainly on core issues such as trade and securing external borders.
He plans to reduce welfare benefits for migrants and consider introducing a five-year residence qualification for citizens of other EU countries to be eligible for welfare payments in Austria.
Three of Austria’s nine provinces have already cut benefits for new arrivals, saying the system was being overstretched by an influx of refugees.
Austria took in asylum seekers equivalent to more than 1 per cent of its population in 2015, most of them fleeing conflict in the Middle East.