Parties

A political party (from the Latin "pars": part, direction) is an association of people with largely similar ideas about the organisation of a community (state, municipality). The existence and diversity of political parties that participate in the political decision-making process are essential components of the democratic order of the Republic of Austria.

Political parties may be founded freely, provided that there are no constitutional obstacles (e.g. the ban on founding National Socialist organisations). Anyone wishing to found a political party must adopt statutes, publish them and deposit them with the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Upon deposit of the statutes, the political party acquires legal personality. The statutes must regulate the fundamentals of the party and its organisation. These must comply with democratic principles.

Provisions on the formation and statutes of parties, the amount and distribution of state funding, restrictions on election campaign spending, transparency, accountability, donations and sanctions for violations are contained in the Political Parties Act 2012. Federal funding for political parties is regulated in detail in the Federal Act on the Financing of Political Parties 2012.

An electoral party is a group of voters that stands for election under a clear name and submits a list of candidates.

In practice, electoral parties are usually identical to political parties. Electoral parties send representatives to the electoral authorities and also have the option of contesting the election.

Parliamentary Groups were originally loose associations of representatives in the House of Deputies. There was no fixed party organisational structure outside the Imperial Council; this only developed later with the emergence of mass parties (Christian Socialists, Social Democrats).

Today, Members of Parliament (at least five) from the same electoral party have the right to form a Parliamentary Group in the National Council. Members of Parliament who do not belong to the same electoral party can only form a Parliamentary Group with the consent of the National Council.

Parliamentary Groups – i.e. Groups in accordance with the corresponding Financing Act – include not only Members of the National Council, but also the respective Members of the Federal Council, and EU representatives elected in Austria.

The formation of a Group is relevant for the application of numerous provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the National Council (e.g. speaking time restrictions, committee membership, representation in the President’s Conference), as well as for entitlement to Group funding.

At least five Members of the Federal Council who have been elected by the Provincial Diets on the basis of proposals from the same party have the right to form a Parliamentary Faction. With the consent of the Federal Council, representatives who do not meet these requirements may also form a Parliamentary Faction.

The formation of Parliamentary Factions is relevant, for example, for the seating arrangement in the plenary chamber of the Federal Council, the composition of the Federal Council Presidium and the Presidential Conference, and the handling of the order of speeches.

Article 56(1) of the Federal Constitutional Law (in German) guarantees parliamentarians a free mandate, i.e. the right to exercise their mandate without being influenced by any ties: "The Members of the National Council and the Members of the Federal Council are not bound by any mandate in the exercise of their profession" – and thus also not by any mandate from their party or Parliamentary Faction (nor by any mandate from their constituents).

The free mandate is often seen as contradicting so-called "party discipline" or Parliamentary Faction discipline. In fact, parliamentarians who are members of the same party usually vote uniformly. This is mainly because they share political convictions. However, it also has to do with the division of labour in Parliament: Due to the large number and variety of issues to be dealt with, parliamentarians within their Parliamentary Faction must specialise in the matters dealt with by the committees in which they themselves are active. They must be able to rely on the support of their colleagues, and they themselves also support them. Therefore, MPs usually follow the recommendations of their Parliamentary Faction colleagues who specialise in the respective topic.

However, it often happens that individual MPs deviate from their Parliamentary Faction's line during votes. This happens, for example, when it comes to specific regional issues or when making a different decision from the group for reasons of conscience.

The Members of the National Council and the Federal Council are therefore legally independent and not bound by any mandate – not even by a mandate from their voters or their party. This means that they cannot be legally obliged to vote in a certain way.

However, they do have at least a political obligation: voters have elected a party list that campaigned on a specific programme. Since Members of Parliament were elected to the National Council as candidates of this party, they can also be expected to participate in the implementation of this programme.

Their legal independence must therefore be viewed separately from the political responsibility of the elected representatives, which can be assessed by the voters only in the next election.

Parliamentary Groups are associations of Members of Parliament that are linked to numerous parliamentary rights and the financing provided for by law. According to the Rules of Procedure of the National Council (GOG-NR, § 7), at least five Members of Parliament belonging to the same electoral party, i.e. elected under the same party name and on the same electoral list in a National Council election, are required to form a Group. If Members who do not belong to the same electoral party wish to form a Parliamentary Group, this requires the majority approval of the National Council. In any case, the formation of a Group must be reported immediately to the President of the National Council.

Members of the same electoral party have the right to form a Group. This has the following advantages:

• Committee membership:
  The committees of the National Council hold preliminary discussions on legislative proposals and other items on the agenda. The number of committee members is based on the relative strength of the Groups; no Group, no committee membership.
• Representation in the President’s Conference:
  Group leaders are allowed to participate in the President’s Conference, which plays an important role in drawing up the National Council's work plans, setting agendas and meeting dates, and, above all, interpreting the rules of procedure.
• Group funding:
  Parliamentary Groups receive public funding to cover costs such as personnel and infrastructure required for them to perform their parliamentary duties; this support is also intended to prevent them from becoming dependent on financial backers or lobbyists.

With the amendment to the Rules of Procedure Act of the National Council (Federal Law Gazette I No. 131/2013), the regulations on the formation of Groups (Section 7 GOG-NR) were amended and clarified to the effect that from now on, Groups may be formed only "at the beginning of a legislative period, but no later than one month from the date of the first meeting of the National Council".

The amendment to the Rules of Procedure Act of the National Council (Federal Law Gazette I No. 131/2013) also clarified that Members of Parliament from the same electoral party may only join together in "one – single – Group".

In the future, it will no longer be possible to form Groups such as the Liberal Forum in 1993 and Team Stronach in 2012. In both cases, Members of Parliament who had left their Groups during an ongoing legislative period (in the case of the Liberal Forum, from the FPÖ Group; in the case of Team Stronach, from the BZÖ Group) had joined together to form a new Group. The wording of the Rules of Procedure at the time did not specify the period within which Groups could be formed. Nor was it clear whether the formation of another Group – in addition to an existing one – by members of the same electoral party was excluded or not.

Both questions were clearly regulated by § 7 GOG-NR in its new version.

In the event that the President is notified of more than one association by members of an electoral party, the Rules of Procedure Act stipulates that the larger group of members shall be recognised as a Group (and, if the number of members is the same, the group to which the first person on the respective federal election list belongs).

It remains unchanged that no legal act (issuance of a decision) by the President is required for the recognition of a Group. However, after notification of the formation of a Group, the President must assess whether or not a Group exists within the meaning of the Rules of Procedure Act, as this has certain legal consequences (e.g. the allocation of Group funding).

In spring 2023, the terms "Group chairperson" and – on the other hand – "Group chairperson according to GOG-NR", i.e. according to the Rules of Procedure Act 1975, were repeatedly encountered in the media.

In common parlance, these two terms are often confused, but they refer to two different functions. We will try to explain how this is possible here.

It is little known to the public that "Group" in a parliamentary context can refer to two different associations: the National Council Group or the Parliamentary Group.

In the National Council, Members of the same electoral party can form a Group. The formation of Groups is regulated in § 7 GOG-NR (in German). It is only possible in the first month of a legislative period and requires a minimum of five Members, whereby only one Group per electoral party may be formed or, more precisely, recognised as such.

The significance of a National Council Group is primarily procedural and technical in nature: political work is coordinated at Group level, where a division of labour and exchange of ideas takes place. In practice, many parliamentary initiatives (motions, questions, etc.) are supported by members of the same Group. Some minority rights can even only be exercised by Groups. For some minority rights, Groups receive an additional fixed quota regardless of their size (e.g. four urgent questions per year for each Group in accordance with Section 93(2) GOG-NR (in German)). Only Group members can be committee members (MPs who do not belong to a Group, sometimes referred to as "independent MPs", are allowed only to listen in committees. Any right to speak must be decided separately for each committee meeting). The Group chairperson also represents the Group in the President’s Conference.

In addition to the Members of the National Council from the same electoral party, the Group as defined by the relevant Financing Act (Klubfinanzierungsgesetz (in German)) also includes the Members of the Federal Council from that party and its Members in the European Parliament.

This Financing Act forms the basis for the funding of Parliamentary Groups at the federal level from public funds. The amount of funding a Group receives is based on certain base amounts and additional amounts depending on the number of Members of the National Council, Federal Council, or European Parliament who belong to the Group. As the Group financing amounts are payable to the Parliamentary Groups, they have the right to dispose of them, and legal transactions for the Group with third parties are therefore usually concluded in the name of the Parliamentary Group. The persons who are specifically authorised to represent a Parliamentary Group are listed in the publicly-accessible Group register (see below).

The President of the National Council may also assign employees of the Parliamentary Administration to the Parliamentary Groups in accordance with Art. 30(5) B-VG (in German) to perform parliamentary tasks.

Chairperson of a National Council Group

Section 8 GOG-NR stipulates that the President’s Conference of the National Council shall be composed of the three presidents and the chairpersons of the Groups. This means that the Groups must elect at least one Group chairperson (equivalent to Group president).

Further Group functions are not expressly prescribed by law, but are at the discretion of the Group. Only in the Remuneration Act and the Incompatibility and Transparency Act is the possibility of appointing an executive Group chairperson in addition to a Group chairperson also enshrined in law – see below.

The Group chairperson of a National Council Group (but not of the overall Group) is entitled to remuneration amounting to 170 per cent of a Member of Parliament's salary in accordance with Section 3(1)(9) of the Federal Remuneration Act.

Pursuant to Section 2(1) of the Unvereinbarkeits- und Transparenz-Gesetz (in German) (Incompatibility and Transparency Act), Group chairpersons in the National Council may not engage in any gainful employment in addition to their function.

However, if a National Council Group appoints a managing Group chairperson in addition to the Group chairperson, the entitlement to remuneration of 170 per cent only applies to the managing Group chairperson (whereas the Group chairperson receives only the "normal" Member of Parliament's remuneration of 100 per cent). The occupational ban also applies to the executive Group chairperson, but not to the Group chairperson.

A distinction must be made between executive Group chairpersons in this legal sense and any appointed "first deputies" of Group chairpersons. The priority status thus expressed over the other deputies of Group chairpersons has no influence on the statutory entitlement to remuneration and is also not associated with a professional ban.

Do Parliamentary Groups also have chairpersons or other officials?

The election of officials for an overall Group or Parliamentary Group is not explicitly prescribed in the related Financing Act. Nor is there any explicit obligation to do so under other legal provisions.

Accordingly, there are no special remuneration regulations, e.g. for an elected chairperson of such an overall Group. If he/she holds the office of a Member of the National Council or a Member of the Federal Council, he/she receives the same remuneration as the other Members of the National Council or Members of the Federal Council. Such a function is also not associated with a professional ban.

However, pursuant to Section 5b of the KlubFG (in German), the President of the National Council must maintain a publicly-accessible register of Groups / PDF, 519 KB (in German) containing the names of the Parliamentary Groups and the persons authorised to represent them. The Parliamentary Groups must provide the President with the necessary information for this purpose.

Provided that they are not already Members of the National Council, chairpersons of a Parliamentary Group, pursuant to the KlubFG Financing Act, do not have the right to speak in the National Council (neither in committee nor in plenary) on the basis of this function alone. Due to their lack of membership in the National Council, they also are not entitled to participate (as deputies) in the President’s Conference of the National Council. They are also not permitted to introduce or support initiatives (motions, questions, etc.) in the National Council.

However, Members of the Federal Council may attend the proceedings of the committees of the National Council (but not those of the Subcommittees) as observers, as well as the enquiries of the National Council.

Political parties and Parliamentary Groups are supported by public funds in order to promote their activities for parliamentary democracy and to prevent dependence on donors or lobbies.

The legal basis for the funding of political parties from federal funds is the Parteiengesetz (in German) (Political Parties Act 2012), the Parteien-Fördergesetz 2012 (in German) (Political Parties Funding Act 2012), and the Publizistikförderungsgesetz 1984 (in German) (Journalism Promotion Act 1984).

The Political Parties Act 2012 obliges the federal and provincial governments to fund political parties and sets framework amounts for this purpose. The Political Parties Funding Act 2012 regulates the exact amount and distribution of party funding at the federal level, as well as special party funding for activities in the European Parliament.

The Journalism Support Act 1984 grants parties funds for their civic education work (e.g. in party academies).

The funding amounts for parties and party academies (from 2015 onwards) are available on the website of the Federal Chancellery (in German).

Political parties in the provinces receive additional funding from the respective provincial budgets.

Under the 1985 Club Financing Act, Parliamentary Groups are entitled to a contribution to cover the costs incurred in the performance of their parliamentary duties. These include, for example, costs for public relations, ICT or international work. Each Group initially receives an identical base amount. In addition, there are supplementary amounts that are graded according to the size of the Group. The number of Members of the Federal Council and the Members of the European Parliament elected in Austria who belong to the respective Parliamentary Group are also taken into account. Since 2019, clubs with a female membership of over 40% in the National Council or the Federal Council have received additional funding.

In addition, the President of the National Council may assign employees of the Parliamentary Administration to the Groups to perform parliamentary tasks (Art. 30(5) B-VG).

The total subsidies to the Parliamentary Groups amounted to

• in 2025: €29.4 million
• in 2024: €29.3 million
• in 2023: €26.8 million
• in 2022: €24.8 million
• in 2021: €23.79 million
• in 2020: €23.38 million
• in 2019: €21.37 million
• in 2018: €21.20 million
• in 2017: €21.98 million
• in 2016: €22.06 million
• in 2015: €22.10 million
• in 2014: €22.05 million
• in 2013: €21.70 million
• in 2012 (note: due to the changeover in the course of the Budget Law reform, the total in this case covers five quarters – advance payment for the first quarter of 2013 = €5.21 million): €24.97 million
• in 2011: €18.97 million
• in 2010: €18.59 million
• in 2009: €18.48 million