Chancellor of Austria
Chancellor of Austria | |
---|---|
Bundeskanzler der Republik Österreich (German) | |
Chancellery | |
Style | Mr Chancellor His Excellency |
Type | Head of government |
Status | Supreme executive organ Minister |
Member of | Cabinet European Council National Security Council |
Seat | Chancellery Building Ballhausplatz, Innere Stadt, Vienna |
Nominator | Political parties |
Appointer | President |
Term length | No fixed term |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of Austria |
Precursor | Minister-President of Cisleithania |
Formation | 30 October 1918 |
First holder | Karl Renner |
Deputy | Vice Chancellor |
Salary | €306,446 annually |
Website | federal-chancellery |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Austria |
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The chancellor of the Republic of Austria (German: Bundeskanzler der Republik Österreich) is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies.
Current officeholder is
The chancellor's place in Austria's political system
Austria's chancellor chairs and leads the
Austria is a parliamentary republic, the system of government in which real power is vested in the head of government. However, in Austria most executive actions of great extent can only be exercised by the president, upon advice or with the countersignature of the chancellor or a specific minister. Therefore the chancellor often requires the president's consent to implement greater decisions. Neither the ministers nor the vice chancellor report to the chancellor.
In legislature, the chancellor's power depends on the size of their affiliated
The first Austrian
The
. Both the chancellor as well as the cabinet are appointed by the president and can be dismissed by the president.The current officeholder is Karl Nehammer, who was sworn in as chancellor on 6 December 2021 by President Alexander Van der Bellen.
History
The use of the term
In the course of the
Habsburg Monarchy
Nevertheless, when Maximilian's grandson
Upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain and the suppression of the Bohemian revolt, Emperor Ferdinand II had separate Court Chancelleries established in order to strengthen the unity of the Habsburg hereditary lands. Beside a Bohemian and Hungarian chancellery, he created the office of an Austrian chancellor in Vienna, responsible for the Archduchy of Austria proper (i.e. Upper and Lower Austria) with the Inner Austrian territories and Tyrol. Under Emperor Leopold I (1658–1705) the term again became Hofkanzler with Johann Paul Freiherr von Hocher (1667–1683), and Theodor von Strattman (1683–1693).[3]
The eighteenth century was dominated by Prince
Austrian Empire
With the consequent dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and founding of the Austrian Empire, Francis II abdicated the former Imperial Throne, but remained Emperor Francis I of Austria in 1806. He had replaced Cobenzl with Johan Philip Charles Stadion (1805–1809) the previous year, but his career was in turn cut short in 1809 following yet another Austrian defeat by Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram and subsequent humiliation at the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Prince Klemens von Metternich was appointed by Francis I to the positions of Hofkanzler and Staatskanzler (1821–1848). However, there is some opinion that the Chancellor title was not used between Prince Kaunitz-Rietberg's resignation in 1792 and 1821.[4] As the
the title only re-emerging at the birth ofAppointment
The Chancellor is appointed and sworn in by the President.[6] In theory, the President can appoint anyone eligible to be elected to the National Council, essentially meaning any Austrian national over the age of 18.[7] In practice, a Chancellor is unable to govern without the confidence of the National Council. For this reason, the Chancellor usually is the leader of the largest party in the National Council, or the senior partner in a coalition government. A notable exception to this occurred after the 1999 election. The Freedom Party won the most seats and went into coalition with the People's Party. While this would have normally made Freedom Party leader Jörg Haider Chancellor, he was deemed too controversial to be a member of the Cabinet, let alone Chancellor. He thus stepped aside in favour of People's Party leader Wolfgang Schüssel.
There are no term limits for the Chancellor. As a matter of constitutional convention, the Chancellor usually offers their resignation to the President upon dissolution of the National Council. The President usually declines the offer of resignation and directs the Chancellor and the cabinet to operate as a caretaker government until a new National Council is in session and a new majority leader has emerged. In fact, the constitution expressly encourages the President to use a Chancellor as the interim successor.[8]
A Chancellor is typically appointed or dismissed together with all of the ministers, which means the whole government. Technically, the President can only appoint ministers on advice of the Chancellor, so the Chancellor is appointed first. Having been sworn in, the Chancellor presents the President with a list of ministers; they will usually have been installed just minutes later. Neither Chancellors nor ministers need to be confirmed by either house of parliament; the appointees are fully capable of discharging the functions of their respective offices immediately after having been sworn in.[9]
The National Council can force the President to dismiss a Chancellor or a minister through a
Role and powers
The Chancellor chairs the meetings of the
Most articles of the constitution that mention the office of Chancellor are tasking the incumbent with notarizing decisions by the President or by various constitutional bodies, with ensuring that these decisions are duly announced to the general public, or with acting as an intermediary between various branches of government. In particular, the Chancellor
- submits bills passed by the National Council to the President for certification,
- countersigns certifications of bills made by the President,[14]
- announces the bills that have thus become laws,
- announces treaties the Republic of Austria is party to upon ratification,[15]
- announces Constitutional Court decision overturning laws or executive orders,[16]
- announces the results of Presidential elections,[17]
- announces changes to the Rules of Procedure adopted by the Federal Council,[18]
- countersigns decisions reached by the Federal Assembly,[19]
- announces declarations of war,[19] and
- notifies provincial governments of bills passed by the National Council that require their assent to become law.[20]
The Chancellor also convenes the Federal Assembly if the National Council moves to have the President removed from office,[17] or if the National Council moves to lift the immunity of the President from criminal prosecution.[21] In the former case, the Federal Assembly votes on whether to allow a referendum on the matter. In the latter case, the assent of the Federal Assembly is required for the President's immunity to be rescinded.
Finally, the Chancellor becomes Acting President if the President is incapacitated. However, if the President remains incapacitated beyond twenty days or has died, the role of Acting President is passed on to the three Presidents of the National Council.[22]
See also
- Politics of Austria
- Constitution of Austria
- Austrian Government
- List of chancellors of Austria
- Vice-Chancellor of Austria
- Chancellery of Austria
- President of Austria
References
- ^ "Austria's first female chancellor to lead interim government". www.thelocal.at. 31 May 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "Interdisziplinärer Arbeitskreis Kurmainz und der Erzkanzler des Reiches: Reichserzkanzler". Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
- ^ a b Cambridge Modern History vol xiii 1911. Forgotten Books. 1902. Retrieved 20 September 2012 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Kaisergruft: Metternich Archived 15 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Austria Forum Web Books Viewer". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- Bundes-Verfassungsgesetzarticle 70
- ^ B-VG art. 26
- ^ B-VG art. 71
- ^ a b B-VG art. 70
- ^ B-VG art. 74
- ^ What happens if Austria's chancellor is voted out? DW, 21 May 2019.
- ^ Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz ousted in no-confidence vote. euronews.com, 27 May 2019.
- ^ B-VG art. 69
- ^ B-VG art. 47
- ^ B-VG art. 49
- ^ B-VG art. 140
- ^ a b B-VG art. 60
- ^ B-VG art. 37
- ^ a b B-VG art. 40
- ^ B-VG art. 42a
- ^ B-VG art. 63
- ^ B-VG art. 64