Government of Austria

The Government of Austria (German: Bundesregierung der Republik Österreich) is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers.

Appointment

Since the 1929 reform of the Austrian Constitution, all members of the Federal Government are appointed by the Austrian Federal President.¹ As the Federal Government must maintain the confidence of parliament, the President must generally abide by the will of that body in their appointments. In practice, the leader of the strongest political party, who ran as a "chancellor candidate" in a parliamentary election, is usually asked to become Federal Chancellor, though there have been some exceptions. Ministers are proposed for nomination by the Chancellor, though the President is permitted to withhold approval. Likewise, the President may dismiss the Chancellor and/or the whole government at any time. If this occurs, a new government must then be formed by the parties that control parliament.

Meetings

The government is convened for frequently scheduled meetings. When formally convened as such, the government is termed the Council of Ministers (German: Ministerrat), which is equivalent to the word "cabinet". The Chancellor presides over cabinet meetings as first among equals without decisional authority, regardless of his right of proposal concerning the appointment of the government's members by the President. The cabinet adopts resolutions in the presence of at least half of its members and, according to the ruling of the Austrian Constitutional Court, unanimously – in particular the introduction of bills to the National Council. Each federal minister is also responsible for their own ministry, and may be supported by one or more , who also participate in the cabinet's meetings. State secretaries are not considered members of the government, and have no right to vote during cabinet meetings.