Discussion with parties to the procedure or with the public

(1) Where a discussion, in particular a discussion hearing, an oral hearing or an application conference, is ordered by legal provision, it may be replaced 1. by an online consultation, or 2. with the consent of those entitled to take part, by a video or telephone conference.
(2) In an online consultation, those entitled to take part must be given the opportunity, within a period to be made known in advance, to comment in writing or electronically. The period should be at least one week. Where information is made available for the online consultation, section 27b(4) applies correspondingly.
(3) Other rules concerning the conduct of a discussion under subsection (1) remain unaffected.