Study Commission on the Future of Civic Engagement

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The establishment of the Study Commission on the Future of Civic Engagement was decided unanimously by the 14th German Bundestag on December 15, 1999. The background was the " International Year of Volunteers " (IJF), proclaimed by the United Nations in 2001.

On February 14, 2000 the study commission was formed. The aim of the German Bundestag was to receive concrete proposals for action for politics on the basis of an inventory in order to promote civil society in Germany.

On May 3, 2002, the Commission presented its 432-page final report.

Members

The chairman of the commission was Michael Bürsch . The commission consisted of 11 members of the Bundestag from the parties represented in the German Bundestag in 2000, including Ilse Aigner , Christian Simmert , Gerhard Schüßler and Klaus Grehn, as well as eleven experts, including Adelheid Biesecker , André Habisch , Peter Maser , Roland Roth , Rupert Graf Strachwitz and Olaf Carpenter .

Working method

In addition to the public hearing of over 100 organizations and experts, discussions with experts, the preparation of working papers from the ranks of the commission and a delegation trip to the USA, the questions of the study commission were dealt with, in particular through the awarding of expert opinions, which were published in a series of publications .

Final report

structure

The report consists of three parts:

  • Part A "Civic engagement: on the way to a sustainable civil society": Inventory of the various possibilities of civic engagement , definition of terms from the point of view of the Commission and historical development of civil society .
  • Part B "Civic engagement: inventory, analysis, development perspectives and recommendations for action": divided into three sections:
  1. Section B1: "Civic engagement and civil society"
  2. Section B2: "Civic engagement and gainful employment"
  3. Section B3: “Civic engagement and the welfare state”.
  • Part C: “Recommendations for action and development prospects in the state and society”: Recommendations for action for the federal government as well as for the levels of organizations and individual engagement.

Recommendations for action by the Commission

  1. Opening of organizations (e.g. associations, foundations, churches, trade unions) internally (better cooperation between volunteers and full-time employees, better co-determination rights for those involved) and externally (better cooperation between individual actors, better entry opportunities, especially for young people)
  2. Make administrations more citizen-oriented and reduce bureaucracy
  3. Create opportunities for participation: introduce more direct democratic procedures, both at local and federal level
  4. Recognize, appreciate and qualify
  5. Create networks and build infrastructures
  6. Strengthening companies as actors in civil society - “ corporate citizenship ”
  7. Reform charitable and donation law
  8. Improve protection and compensation for disadvantages
  9. Increase knowledge of civic engagement
  10. Continuing civic engagement

Legal implementation

The commission not only had the task of recommending new legislative projects, but was also able to participate in legislative procedures that had already been initiated. As a result, a large number of individual laws relating to the promotion of civic engagement were changed in the 14th electoral term. Legal areas were in particular social security and tax law, employment promotion law, and nursing and health care.

For example, with the Act to Improve the Protection of Civic Commitments and Other Persons under Accident Insurance Law , which came into force on January 1, 2005 , the Federal Government took up the recommendations of the Enquete Commission to the extent that it expanded the protection under accident insurance law .

However, a bill to supplement or amend the Basic Law by introducing direct citizen participation through popular initiatives, referendums and referendums was not passed.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ International Year of Volunteers 2001 World Volunteer Web, accessed on August 5, 2016 (English)
  2. ↑ Civic engagement: on the way to a sustainable civil society report of the study commission "Future of Civic Engagement", BT-Drucksache 14/8900 from June 3, 2002
  3. ↑ Civic engagement: on the way to a sustainable civil society Report of the study commission “Future of Civic Engagement”, BT-Drucksache 14/8900 of June 3, 2002, p. 364 ff.
  4. ↑ Civic engagement: on the way to a sustainable civil society report of the study commission "Future of Civic Engagement", BT-Drucksache 14/8900 of June 3, 2002, p. 375 ff .: Legal changes and legislative initiatives in the 14th electoral period, As of April 25, 2002
  5. ↑ Draft of a law to improve the protection of citizens and other people under accident insurance law. In: Drucksache 15/3439. German Bundestag, June 29, 2004, accessed April 3, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Written answer from the Saarland government to the major question from the CDU parliamentary group: Volunteering in Saarland. (No longer available online.) CDU parliamentary group in the Saarland state parliament, October 9, 2007, archived from the original on April 7, 2015 ; Retrieved April 3, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cdu-fraktion-saar.de
  7. ↑ Draft of a law to introduce popular initiatives, referendums and referendums in the Basic Law BT-Drucksache 14/8503 of March 13, 2002
  8. ↑ Christoph Giesa : It was she, she was The European , May 19, 2011