The City Council - A body of the City of Vienna

The Vienna City Council is the highest authority in the city.

Membership

The 100 members of the Vienna City Council are at the same time members of the Vienna Provincial Parliament. The members of the City Council are elected by the people for a legislative period of 5 years, as provided for in the Regulations on Municipal Elections in Vienna. Elections are held on the basis of universal, equal, secret, personal and direct proportional representation. According to the EU Directive on municipal elections, citizens of other EU states living in Vienna are eligible to vote at the district level, but cannot participate in elections to the City Council.

Based on the results of the 2020 elections to the Vienna City Council and District Councils, the current distribution of the 100 seats in the Vienna City Council is as follows: Social Democrats (SPÖ) 46 seats; Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) 21 seats; Green Party 16 seats; (NEOS) 8 seats; Freedom Party (FPÖ) 8 seats; 1 non-affiliated member.

• Seating plan in the Vienna City Council

Function and tasks

The City Council's function is to safeguard the interests of all members of the municipality. Its tasks include general supervision of the municipality, electing the mayor, the deputy mayors and the city councillors. The City Council adopts the municipal budget plan (i.e. the annual budget), approves staffing plans, and adopts the final balance.

It is also responsible for approving the Rules of Procedure and the Allocation of Competencies in the City Administration (- both documents are subsequently decreed by the Mayor).

Provided that the amount of money involved in the transaction exceeds a specific threshold (pursuant to sec 88 of the Vienna City Statutes), the City Council is also responsible for specific types of transaction including

• real estate transactions
• granting loans and other legal transactions
• authorising subscriptions and subsidies
• write-offs and the waiving of claims

The City Council may delegate some of its tasks to other municipal bodies.

Inquiries, motions and initiatives

The members of the City Council have the right to address inquiries to the Mayor or the Executive City Councillors in matters within the municipality‘s own sphere of competence. They may also submit (written) motions, which must be dealt within one month, though the Mayor and Executive City Councillors are not required to approve them. Inquiries and motions may also be submitted as urgent initiatives if this is demanded by at least six members of the City Council.

City Council meetings

The Mayor convenes a meeting of the City Council whenever it is "required for the conduct of daily business", or upon receiving a written request from a minimum of 25 members of the City Council or from a party caucus in the City Council.

The meetings of the City Council are chaired by a chairperson. The City Council must elect four chairpersons from among its members.