Welcome to the „Participation in legislation“ websites that have been created by the European project LEX-IS (co-funded by the European Commission, FP6, IST, eParticipation preparatory action) in cooperation with the Austrian Parliament. One of the main objectives of LEX-IS is to make it easier for young citizens to participate in the public legal debate among Parliaments, citizens, and businesses in the EU.

For this purpose, these websites offer a technical infrastructure for the discussion of one selected Austrian legal draft in moderated online forums within the framework of school lectures. In online and offline discussions in the classes, the platform offers young Austrian citizens the possibility to present their own opinions and develop alternatives. The participating classes work together on the same platform.

After finishing the online discussions, the posts will be summarized by the moderators. Based on this, an official statement on the legal draft will be written by each class (find detailed information on the Austrian legislation process here). This official statement will be based on the former discussions and reflect the alternatives and opinions contained. By the end of November the compiled statements will be published here and the website of the Austrian Parliament.

The forums are public. Who ever wants to participate actively in the discussions, needs to register. The legal draft, other documents, and the discussions are only available in German.