Member of the Federal Council (Germany)

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Federal eagle as the logo of the Federal Council

The representatives of the states in the Federal Council of the Federal Republic of Germany are referred to as members of the Bundesrat (abbreviated MdBR ), also Bundesrat member .

The Bundesrat has as many members as it corresponds to the provisions of Article 51, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law (GG), that is 69 full members (since January 30, 1996). In addition, there are the deputy members, who are largely on an equal footing with the full members.

general description

Members of the Bundesrat are appointed by the state governments in accordance with Article 51, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law ; their membership ends when they leave the state government or are dismissed. They themselves have to be members with a seat and vote in the respective state government. Members can therefore only be Prime Ministers and Ministers (or the mayors and senators of Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg ), as well as the officials who are also members of the state government or can be appointed to such according to the state constitutions: State secretaries and honorary state councilors in Baden -Wuerttemberg , State Secretaries in Bavaria , in Bremen (only after constitutional amendment, effective on February 12, 2000), in Saarland (only after constitutional amendment, effective on September 21, 2001) and in Saxony .

According to § 2 GO BR, members of the Federal Council are not allowed to be members of the German Bundestag and according to Article 94, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law, they are not allowed to be judges at the Federal Constitutional Court . When the number of government members specified in Article 51 (2) of the Basic Law is appointed as full members, the other government members of the Länder are usually appointed as deputy members at the same time, to whom the rules of procedure of the Federal Council (GO BR) largely grant the same rights.

Because the seat and vote in the Bundesrat are tied to membership in a state government, the elections to the representative bodies of the states are of decisive importance for the composition of the Bundesrat, as the state governments are formed by the parliaments of the states.

Members of the Bundesrat represent their countries in the legislation of the Federal ; they are equal to each other. The votes can only be cast uniformly for each country ( Article 51, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law), which is usually done for each country by a voting leader on whom the members of each country agree. Other members of the Federal Council of his country can object to his vote at any time during the vote. If a state vote is inconsistent, these votes may not be included in the voting result.

According to Article 43, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law, members of the Bundesrat have access to every session of the German Bundestag and are always entitled to speak there.

The members of the Federal Council selected according to § 5 para. 1 GO BR For the year beginning on the 1st of November of each year fiscal year from among themselves a president and two vice-presidents. A head of government from the federal states represented in the Bundesrat is always elected as president - following the tradition and sequence of the so-called " Königstein Agreement " .

Members per country

The Federal Council at a plenary session

Each country is entitled to a certain number of Federal Council members based on its population ( Art. 51 (2) GG):

"Every country has at least three votes, countries with more than two million inhabitants have four, countries with more than six million inhabitants five, countries with more than seven million inhabitants six votes."

Bound by instructions

The formulation of the Basic Law, in particular the stipulation of the uniformity of voting per country, suggests that the members of the Federal Council are not free in their mandate , even if a precise regulation cannot be found in the Basic Law. The fact that Article 50 of the Basic Law and other places speak of the fact that the Länder (and not the members of the Bundesrat ) are involved in federal legislation through the Bundesrat suggests this conclusion. It is generally assumed that the members of the Bundesrat are bound by the instructions of their respective state government. However, this only applies internally; votes cast contrary to instructions are still effective and cannot be reversed. Regardless of the regulations of the individual federal state, including its constitution, the right to issue instructions lies exclusively with the state government.

For the Joint Committee ( Article 53a, Paragraph 1, Sentence 3, Basic Law) and the Mediation Committee ( Article. 77, Paragraph 2, Sentence 3, Basic Law), the Basic Law explicitly stipulates that the Bundesrat members are not bound by instructions there.

Members in the negotiations

In the negotiations of the plenary session of the Bundesrat, the members of the Bundesrat usually exercise their rights as a single country . For example, in accordance with Section 15 (1) of the GO BR, only one state can call for a meeting of the Federal Council; in accordance with Section 19 (2) of the GO BR, it can ask the federal government (with reasonable notice) questions that are not related to a subject of the Set the agenda or submit proposals to the Federal Council. Individual members of the Bundesrat can put questions to the Federal Government or its members about items on the agenda , in accordance with Section 19 (1) GO BR.

Committee Membership

Members of the Federal Council can be members of a Federal Council committee . Each country has one Federal Council member per committee. Alternatively, the federal states can also be represented by another member or a representative of their government in accordance with Section 11 (2) GO BR. The decision on the representative in the committees is made by the respective state government. The chairmen of the committees are elected by the Federal Council in accordance with Section 12 (1) GO BR after hearing the respective committees; the deputy chairmen are elected by the committees from among their number.

The members of the Federal Council are appointed in the same way in the Mediation Committee and in the Joint Committee .

reimbursement

Members of the Federal Council do not receive any remuneration. Nonetheless, travel costs are reimbursed and the members of the Bundesrat receive nationwide tickets for Deutsche Bahn trains in accordance with Article 8, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 1 of the Railway Reform Act (ENeuOG) and Article 4 GO BR .

See also

Web links

Commons : Members of the Bundesrat (Germany)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Abbreviations L – N. Federal Council, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Official notices. (PDF; 4.8 MB) In: Plenary Minutes 693rd Federal Council, February 9, 1996, p. 1 , accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Composition of the Federal Council. Federal Council, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Art. 45 para. 2 LV. In: Constitution of the State of Baden-Württemberg from November 11, 1953. Landesrecht BW Bürgerservice, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Art. 43 para. 2 BayVerf. In: Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria in the version published on December 15, 1998. Bayern.Recht, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Art. 107 BremLV. In: State Constitution of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen from October 21, 1947. Transparency portal Bremen, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  7. ^ Law to amend the state constitution of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen of February 1, 2000. (PDF; 167 KB) In: Gesetzblatt der Free Hansestadt Bremen. Senate Chancellery Bremen, February 11, 2000, p. 31 , accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Art. 68 SVerf. In: Constitution of the Saarland (SVerf) of December 15, 1947. Ministry of Justice, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Law No. 1478 amending the Saarland constitution of September 5, 2001. (PDF; 4.9 MB) In: Saarland Official Gazette. Head of the State Chancellery, September 20, 2001, p. 1630 , accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Art. 59 Para. 2. In: Constitution of the Free State of Saxony of May 27, 1992. REVOSax, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  11. ↑ a b c Principles on the judgment of the Second Senate of December 18, 2002. 2 BvF 1/02. Federal Constitutional Court, December 18, 2002, accessed May 27, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Pieroth , in: Jarass / Pieroth, GG, Art. 51 Rn 6; Brockmeyer , in: Schmidt-Bleibtreu / Klein, GG, Art. 51 Rn 4 f .; Hesse , VerfR, Rn 613.
  13. ↑ Federal Constitutional Court , judgment of December 18, 2002 - 2 BvF 1/02 = BVerfGE 106, 310 (332 ff.) = NJW 2003, 339; BeckOK GG / Dörr, 34th Ed. 1.6.2017, GG Art. 51 Rn. 9.
  14. ↑ BeckOK GG / Dörr, 34th Ed. 1.6.2017, GG Art. 51 Rn. 10.
  15. ↑ Michael Wisser in Hömig / Wolff, Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, 11th edition 2016, Art. 51 GG, Rn. 3.
  16. ↑ § 11 para. 4 GO BR. In: Rules of Procedure of the Federal Council (GO BR). Federal Council, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  17. ↑ § 4 Paragraph 1 GemAusGO. In: Rules of Procedure for the Joint Committee. gesetze-im-internet.de, July 20, 1993, accessed on May 27, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Art. 8 § 4 Para. 1 ENeuOG. In: Law on the reorganization of the railway system (Railway Reform Act - ENeuOG). gesetze-im-internet.de, accessed on May 27, 2016 .