Participation of the Austrian Parliament in EU Matters

Legal basis for participation in EU matters

• Federal Constitutional Law on Austria's Accession to the EU ("Accession Act")

  In the course of Austria's accession to the European Union (EU) in 1995, Parliament's competence to legislate in certain policy areas was transferred to the EU level. To ensure that the national Parliament still has an influence on European decision-making processes, appropriate provisions were made in the Federal Constitution and subsequently through amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the National Council and the Federal Council. At the time, the heart of the Austrian Parliament's rights of participation in EU matters related to a comprehensive right to information and to submit comments vis-à-vis the Austrian Federal Government.

• Treaty of Lisbon and accompanying amendment to Federal Constitutional Law

  The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 strengthened the role of national parliaments in the European Union through active and direct involvement. To implement these new rights, Federal Constitutional Law  ("Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz" or B-VG) was amended in 2010. Corresponding amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the National Council and the Federal Council entered into force at the beginning of 2012. This development gave the National Council and the Federal Council additional direct participation rights in EU matters. In particular, new instruments were introduced to verify compliance with the subsidiarity principle.

• EU Information Act and Information Rules Act

  In order to make the best possible use of the new rights, the amendments to the Rules of Procedure were accompanied by a reorganization of the Austrian Federal Government's information obligations through the "EU Information Act" (EU-InfoG) and the introduction of "Distribution Rules - EU" for dealing with classified EU documents; each case represented an annex to the Rules of Procedure. The Distribution Rules - EU regulations were eventually replaced by the Information Rules Act (InfOG), which entered into force in January 2015 and applies to the National and Federal Councils.