Bundestag committee
A Bundestag committee is a group of members of the German Bundestag on a specific topic. The committees are not to be confused with the working groups; these designate the experts within a political group and also represent them in the committee. The Bundestag committees serve to prepare the Bundestag decisions , because due to the size of the plenary , which normally consists of 598 Bundestag members and the overhang mandates as well as - since 2013 - compensation mandates , not all resolutions and bills can pass through the Bundestag in its entirety. The draft laws are made “ready for voting” in the Bundestag committees. In addition to the committees are in the German Parliament, the Bundestag committees , which, despite its name, the election committee heard. The committees meet in the Paul-Löbe-Haus .
Number and structure
(see also:
- List of all Wikipedia articles whose title begins with Bundestag committees
- List of all Wikipedia articles whose title contains Bundestag committees )
There is a Bundestag committee for every important subject area. The committees consist of 15 to 42 members and reflect the composition of the political groups in plenary. The parliamentary groups appoint the committee members.
Each committee is composed according to the size of the individual parliamentary groups in the Bundestag. Each committee has a committee chairman and a deputy. The chairman or his deputy prepares the meetings, calls them and chairs them. The chairs of all committees are currently (most recently in 2018) also divided among all political groups according to the size of the parliamentary groups.
The committees usually meet in closed session and prepare the content of the sessions and resolutions of the Bundestag. This is where the bills are discussed and experts are heard.
The Basic Law prescribes a Foreign Affairs Committee , an EU Committee , a Defense Committee and a Petitions Committee . The other committees are determined by the MPs at the beginning of the legislative period.
The committees can invite experts to attend hearings. The committees of inquiry have the privilege of summoning and questioning witnesses as well as initiating other investigations by courts and administrative authorities .
The committee members of a parliamentary group in a committee each have a chairman.
"In addition to the chairmen, the chairpersons occupy a key position in the committees: each parliamentary group appoints an 'chairman' for each committee, who is the main contact for the group leaders."
The chairmen have a decisive influence on the course of their parliamentary group in the individual committees. They also act as an arbitration body if there are conflicts during negotiations.
Permanent Bundestag committees after electoral term
- 1st electoral term : September 7, 1949–7. September 1953
- 2nd electoral term : October 6, 1953–6. October 1957
- 3rd electoral term : October 15, 1957–15. October 1961
- 4th legislative term : October 17, 1961–17. October 1965
- 5th electoral term : October 19, 1965–19. October 1969
- Sixth legislative term : October 20, 1969–23. September 1972
- 7th legislative term : December 13, 1972-13. December 1976
- 8th legislative term : December 14, 1976–4. November 1980
- 9th legislative term : November 4, 1980–29. March 1983
- 10th electoral term : March 29, 1983–18. February 1987
- Eleventh term : February 18, 1987-20. December 1990
- 12th electoral term : December 20, 1990-10. November 1994
- 13th electoral term : November 10, 1994–26. October 1998
- 14th legislative term : October 26, 1998–17. October 2002
- 15th electoral term : October 17, 2002–18. October 2005
- 16th electoral term : October 18, 2005–27. October 2009
- 17th electoral term : October 27, 2009–22. October 2013
- 18th electoral term : October 22, 2013–24. October 2017
- 19th electoral term : since October 24, 2017
Temporary Bundestag committee
In mid-November 2013, it was proposed to set up a so-called main committee on November 28 , which should temporarily replace the regular committees (with the exception of the parliamentary control body ). It should include around 40 parliamentarians (and just as many deputies) and it should be dissolved again when the regular committees are set up. The background to this was that the CDU / CSU and SPD only wanted to set up the regular committees after the election of a government and therefore no committee work has taken place since the federal election on September 22, 2013 . Criticism and concerns about the constitutionality of the plan have been expressed by the Greens, Der Linke and by scholars such as Wolfgang Zeh and Hans Meyer . A main committee was set up again on November 21, 2017, as the formation of a government was delayed after the 2017 federal election . After the standing committees were constituted, the main committee was dissolved again on January 31, 2018.
Subcommittees
The committees can in turn set up sub-committees. The Bundestag committee for culture and media set up a subcommittee for new media in the 15th and 16th electoral periods .
Web links
- Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag. Sections 54–74: Committees. German Bundestag, accessed on July 15, 2020 .
- Tasks of the committees
- Overview of all committees (18th electoral term)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court , Volume 1, p. 152.
- ↑ https://www.bundestag.de/ausschuesse/ausschuesse18/azur/azur-214062 Calculation method for the allocation of seats
- ↑ https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2018-01/bundestag-afd-vorsitz-rechtsausschuss-haushaltsausschuss
- ↑ Art. 45 GG ( Memento of October 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Function and task of the standing committees / parliamentary groups and their chairpersons ( Memento of December 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The trick with the super committee. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . November 20, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013 .
- ^ Discomfort at the super committee. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . November 21, 2013, accessed November 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Tagesschau
- ↑ Main Committee