RECOMMEND
PRINT
Start
Parliamentarism Explained
Parliament explained
How does policy-making work in Austria? Who and what is important on the political scene? And how does cooperation with the EU actually work? On the following pages you will find an overview of the structure of Austrian democracy. And you will also learn what conditions have to be fulfilled so that it works properly.
The Austrian Parliament
Parliament is the heart of every democracy. It is here that the interests of as many citizens as possible should be represented: the concerns of senior citizens, young people, women, men, employees, entrepreneurs etc. But what happens in Parliament? How does policy-making work? Let us introduce you to democracy in Austria. More
National Council, Federal Council and the Federal Assembly
What are the tasks of the National Council? What does the Federal Council do? And what is the task they accomplish when they meet in the Federal Assembly? Also, get some information on festive and commemorative meetings of Parliament. More
How laws are made
Who can propose laws? What stages does a bill go through before it becomes a law? The law-making process is called legislation. Learn more about it. More
Control
The National and Federal Councils have the right to exercise control over the Federal Government, to address questions to its members and have them answered. Their control extends not only to political but also to legal issues. Other bodies that exercise control are the Court of Audit and the Ombudsman’s Office. More
Legal Basis and Laws
Here you can find information about legal bases and laws concerning parliamentarism in Austria. More
Austria, a Federal Republic
Austria is a Republic consisting of nine provinces. This section deals with the way the federal and provincial governments cooperate. More
Parties and parliamentary groups
Political parties are formed by persons who have similar ideas about the state, the economy and society. It is their basic task to contribute to the political decision-making process. For a representative democracy such as Austria the existence of several different parties is an essential prerequisite. More
Parliament and the European Union
The origins of the European Union date back to the post-war period. At that time the idea was to safeguard peace and prosperity in Europe by creating strong links between the economies. When Austria joined the EU in 1995, it delegated certain legislative competences to it, but the Austrian Parliament has extensive rights to participate in the process. More
Top