260 hours of meetings – the National Council is busy with legislative resolutions this year

There were slightly more meetings than in 2023/24 in the previous session of 2022/23 with 57 – although there were also seven special meetings at that time. In the past parliamentary year, there was only one, at the request of the FPÖ, which dealt with the issue of neutrality against the background of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. There were also 154 committee meetings and 22 subcommittee meetings. The committees of inquiry into COFAG and the ‘red-blue abuse of power’ had a total of 31 meetings.

A quarter of legislative decisions were taken in the last days of the session
In the last days of the session before last week’s summer recess alone, 58 of the 214 legislative resolutions were adopted. It also sets a record for the entire term: since the 1970s, never have more than 900 legislative resolutions been adopted in a single term, according to parliamentary correspondence. This number has already reached 929 – one reason could be the coronavirus pandemic, as numerous special rules have been adopted and some have been extended several times.

Not even every third decision was taken unanimously
If you look at the past parliamentary year, 29 percent, or just under a third, of legislative resolutions were passed unanimously. The government managed to implement 20 bills with the necessary two-thirds majority, including the Freedom of Information Act. However, last week, for example, the biogas law failed due to the lack of approval by the FPÖ or SPÖ. In addition to legislative resolutions, 17 state treaties and 12 agreements with the Länder were approved in 2023/2024, and 74 reports from the government, the Court of Audit and the Ombudsman were negotiated.

39 calls for order needed
During the plenary session, 342 debates took place, often covering multiple agenda items. There were nine “Current Hours” and three “Current Europe Hours”, where each party presented a topic for discussion. In addition, government members were available to answer questions at seven question times. At the request of the opposition, six “urgent motions” and three “urgent questions” were discussed. There were also nine “short debates” on written questions from individual members of the government and requests for deadlines, as well as another before the COFAG-U committee. The Presidents of the National Council called for order 39 times – these are used, for example, in cases of insulting statements.

According to parliamentary correspondence, the number of motions of no confidence remained low at two, despite the enormous criticism of the government. The SPÖ demanded the resignation of the entire federal government in the autumn because, according to them, it had done too little to combat inflation. Last week, the FPÖ expressed no confidence in Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) because she had approved the EU renaturation regulation. Both applications were unsuccessful.

Written questions are decreasing
The number of written questions fell to 3,189 (2022/23: 3,650) – the vast majority of 3,168 were addressed to the government. The FPÖ was largely responsible (1,632), followed by the SPÖ (853), the NEOS (659), the Greens (27) and the ÖVP (18). Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) received the most questions (485).

While the parliamentary term will last until September, the 2023/24 conference will officially end on Tuesday. Only after the summer holidays, on 18 September, will the National Council meet again as planned. After the elections to the National Council on 29 September, there will be numerous new heads of parliament. In any case, the current chairman of the National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP), who is no longer active, will not be present.