Gernot Blumel was appointed Federal Minister in the Federal Chancellery for Art, Culture, Constitution and Media in December after the nationalist People’s Party secured power.
His party has come out against deeper integration of the EU, to the despair of leading figures like Jean-Claude Juncker.
And, although Mr Blumel admitted some EU action was needed, he claimed this week that Brussels was extending its tentacles too far into every walk of life.
Mr Blumel said: “Migration, internal security, economic growth – these are the big issues that need more Europe.
“On the other hand it is not necessary for the EU to interfere with everything down to the last detail.”
The comments will cause a further headache for Brussels which has viewed Austria’s Eurosceptic new leadership with dismay.
There are concerns Austria will now be an intractable voice on EU asylum reform and efforts to increase the bloc’s budget.
The country takes over the EU Council Presidency later this year with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz vowing reforms focusing on “less EU but more efficiency”.
Mr Kurz, 31, led the Austrian People’s Party to victory in the polls on an anti-immigration platform.
And, governing with the far-right Freedom Party, he has argued that all migration into the EU ought to be stopped and the distribution of existing refugees re-regulated without quotas.
Austria had already tightened its asylum rules under the previous centrist government and some provincial governments have cut social services for refugees – laws that are currently under review by the constitutional court and the European Court of Justice.
Now the conservative-far right coalition has promised to introduce these cuts nationwide.
Mr Kurz visited Brussels last month in a bid to allay the bloc’s fears.
At a news conference afterwards, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he would judge Kurz’s government by its deeds.
He said: “This government has a clear pro-European stance. That is what is important for me.”
Mr Kurz said he would make it Austria’s task to bridge the gap between EU member states in the east and the west, adding his country would fight to stop illegal immigration into the EU.
Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg.