General information on elections to the European Parliament

The Austrian members of the European Parliament are elected every 5 years during European elections. This is a direct election, in which a vote is cast for a candidate party. Which candidates enter the European Parliament is determined – depending on the outcome of the election – on the basis of their ranking within the party and the result of the evaluation of preferential votes. Austria is currently represented by 19 Members of the European Parliament (of a total of 705).

The European Parliament represents all citizens of the EU Member States and has extensive powers, such as, for example, participation in the legislative process within the EU or rights of democratic scrutiny in relation to EU institutions.

Each State elects its representatives in line with its own legal provisions. In Austria, the voting procedure is regulated by the European Elections Regulation. Elections to the European Parliament are conducted in accordance with the system of proportional representation, with the Austrian federal territory being considered one coherent electoral unit. The elections are public, free, secret and have immediate effect. Just like in national elections, it is also possible to assign preferential votes in elections to the European Parliament. In other aspects too, which are predominantly organisational in nature, elections to the European Parliament are essentially the same as national elections (e.g. the possibility of voting by post or before a ‘flying electoral commission’, etc.)

Further informationen about voting eligibility – other EU citizens with main residence in Austria and voting eligibility for elections to the European parliament in Austria can also be found at oesterreich.gv.at.

Further links

• Elections to the European Parliament (→ BMI)^{German text}
• European Parliament – Information office in Austria (→ EP)^{German text}

Legal basis

• Europawahlordnung
• Art 23a of the Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz