Federal Council

E17272

The Federal Council is the upper chamber of Austria's parliament, representing the federal states in the legislative process.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf legislative body
upper house of parliament
abbreviation BR
canInitiateLegislation yes, in cooperation with National Council
cannotVeto dissolution of the National Council
federal budget laws
canVeto ordinary federal laws with suspensive veto
compositionBasis representation of provincial parliaments
constitutionalArticle regulated primarily in the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law
constitutionalRole second reading chamber for federal legislation
constitutionalStatus federal organ
country Austria
establishedBy Federal Constitutional Law of Austria
establishedInYear 1920
function participation in EU affairs
representation of Länder interests at federal level
governmentTypeContext bicameral parliamentary republic
hasCommittee various standing committees
hasLowerHouse National Council (Austria)
largestDelegationFrom Vienna
legalSystemContext civil law system of Austria
legislativeFunction participation in constitutional amendments under certain conditions
participation in federal lawmaking
right to object to legislation passed by the National Council
location Vienna
meetsIn Austrian Parliament Building
meetsInChamber Federal Council Chamber in Parliament Building
membersAppointedBy Landtage of the Austrian federal states
numberOfMembers 61
officialLanguage German
officialName Bundesrat
oversightFunction limited oversight compared to National Council
partOf Parliament of Austria
presidencyRotation rotates among federal states
presidingOfficerTitle President of the Federal Council
reestablishedInYear 1945
represents Länder of Austria
federal states of Austria
seatAllocationBasis population of each federal state
sessionType public sessions
smallestDelegationFrom Burgenland
strongerApprovalRequiredFor certain constitutional laws affecting federal states
termLength varies with composition of provincial parliaments
vetoType suspensive veto in most cases
votingRule simple majority in most decisions
votingSystem indirect election via provincial parliaments
website https://www.bundesrat.gv.at

Referenced by (8)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Austria
Austrian Parliament
upperHouse
National Council (Austria) ("Federal Council (Austria)")
canOverride
National Council (Austria) ("Federal Council (Austria)")
convenesWith
National Council (Austria) ("Federal Council (Austria)")
hasChamber
Austrian Parliament
hasPart
Austrian Parliament
legislativeChamber
President of the Federal Council ("Federal Council chamber")
seat

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