Petitions Committee (German Bundestag)

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The Petitions Committee is a committee of the German Bundestag to deal with the petitions addressed to it .

Legal bases

The basic right of petition is anchored in Article 17 of the Basic Law . The Bundestag committee is regulated in Art. 45c GG.

The Petitions Committee has special legal powers under the law under Article 45c of the Basic Law in order to be able to clarify matters relevant to its work, for example the right to file submission, information and access to authorities. This can only be refused if the process has to be kept secret due to a law or if there are other compelling reasons for confidentiality. Courts and administrative authorities are obliged to provide administrative assistance .

The Petitions Committee can summon and hear the petitioner as well as witnesses and experts.

Petitions

You can submit an individual petition for personal concerns . There is a public petition for general concerns . It has been possible to submit an online petition since September 2005.

history

Before the online petition in September 2005, petitions could only be submitted in writing. They had to contain the petitioner's full address and signature, and be in German. There were and are not any further requirements.

After a visit by the Petitions Committee to Scotland, where an online petitions system was demonstrated, the Committee decided to initially adopt this system as a model test for the German Bundestag. An online petition was launched on a trial basis in September 2005. Since petitions had to be signed by name beforehand, it was not possible to submit them online or to co-sign them. The German public online petition system was based on a system of the Scottish Parliament until autumn 2008 as a model experiment, which was supposed to test whether the system could be used in Germany, which is why the website of the German Bundestag's public petition from the International Teledemocracy Center at Edinburgh Napier University in Edinburgh were made available.

Since October 13, 2008, the Bundestag has had its own online petition website based on the SMF . In contrast to the old system, every user who wants to submit petitions, sign and write forum posts now has to register with the new system. A verification email is generated that must be answered. Only then are the interactive elements activated. No registration is required for read access. The public petitions have since been available on the website of the German Bundestag. These can also be discussed in a forum , provided that you are registered as a user and have logged in.

This was also established in order to prevent misuse, especially with signatures. In the old Scottish system it was still possible to sign petitions without registering. As a result, the inhibition threshold for signing was lower. But it was also possible that the same petition could be signed several times by one person. Due to the large number of visitors, the petition website had repeatedly been temporarily unavailable.

The new system was also criticized because it was relatively difficult to use. Individual petitioners and support groups have therefore published instructions for beginners.

In the beginning, the system had frequent failures when there was too much rush, especially in the evening hours. The petition submitted by Susanne Wiest in 2008 with the demand for an unconditional basic income led to the collapse of the server before its end, which is why the petition was even extended for another week. The petition was finally accepted for a public hearing in the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag (also because it was unclear how many people were excluded from the opportunity to provide support due to the technical difficulties). The hearing took place on Monday, November 8th, 2010.

The technical difficulties were resolved by the end of 2009. In 2009, around 70 petitions were received every day, around 20,000 in total. About ten percent of these were submitted online. In 2010 around 25 percent of the petitions were submitted online. In total, there are over 920,000 registered users (as of December 13, 2010).

Individual petitions

The individual petitions make up the majority of the work of the Petitions Committee: “In addition to the citizens who want to participate in the fortunes of the Federal Republic via the Internet, the Petitions Committee is also very committed to the private worries and needs of the individual citizen who turns to the committee with an individual petition. The wrongly calculated pension, the unfunded wheelchair, the refused visitor's visa, the processing of personal requests and complaints made up the bulk of its work for the Petitions Committee again in 2013. "

In the individual petitions, anyone can send their (private) concerns to the petitions committee of the Bundestag using the online form. The individual petition will be treated anonymously. The data is transmitted to the committee in encrypted form and is therefore not visible to third parties.

An "electronic substitute for the signature" applies if "the author and his postal address can be seen and the form provided on the Internet for electronic petitions is used". For the final confirmation of the petition, instead of the handwritten signature required for the conventional petition, the name of the complainant must be entered in a signature box at the end of the petition.

Except for the technical transmission, the procedure for online petitions of the German Bundestag does not differ in principle from the usual petition procedure. An online form made available on the Internet is intended to facilitate the drafting and transmission of the petition text.

You will be informed about the status of your own petition, which you have submitted yourself, via the email address specified in the contact details /, if necessary, postal address, about the status and, of course, the result later.

Public petitions

In the case of public petitions, the request and the reason are posted on the Internet, stating the name of the submitter. Other people who consider the concerns to be justified can support these petitions by "signing". In addition, users can discuss the petitions in a forum.

The petition text is initially put online for four weeks and can be "signed" by any number of other people by giving their name during this period, provided they are registered in the system. The more supporters a public petition receives, the more weight it should be able to gain in the following process.

From 50,000 supporters at this time ( " Quorum ") one will usually " petitioner or more petitioners heard in open committee meeting. The committee can, however, decide with a majority of two thirds of the members present that this is not the case. ”The public meetings of the Petitions Committee are broadcast on parliamentary television. The programs can also be viewed on the Internet and can be accessed at any time as video-on-demand on the Bundestag website.

Before a submitted petition is posted as a public petition on the Internet for discussion and co-signature, it must meet the criteria for this. This check takes quite different amounts of time and can U. be several months. If a petition that has been submitted as a public petition is not published because it did not meet the criteria, it will still be dealt with by the Petitions Committee in any case; but then as a single petition. According to the Petitions Committee, all petitions are discussed by the Petitions Committee and passed with a recommendation, which the German Bundestag decides on.

The decision of the Petitions Committee is posted on the Internet for public e-petitions. The number of signatories does not affect parliamentary scrutiny of the petition. About 5% of the online petitions submitted are published. Only published petitions can also be signed.

structure

Around 80 administrative staff are employed in the “Petitions and Submissions” sub-department of the German Bundestag administration. The Petitions Committee has 28 members of the German Bundestag in the 19th legislative period.

Members of the Petitions Committee ( 18th German Bundestag )

Members of the Petitions Committee ( 19th German Bundestag )

Chair of the Petitions Committee

deputy Committee Chair

statistics

Overview of total number of petitions

The German Bundestag lists the petitions received since 1980. The lowest number of petitions during this period was 1980 with 10,735, the highest number in 1992 with 23,960.

year petitions received daily average
1980 10,735 43.29
1990 16,497 66.79
2000 20,666 83.00
2005 22,144 87.18
2006 16,766 66.53
2007 16,260 65.04
2008 18.096 71.81
2009 18,861 74.85
2010 16,849 66.33
2011 15.191 59.81
2012 15,724 62.65
2013 14,800 59.20
2014 15,325 61.30
2015 13,137 52.55
2016 11,236 44.94
2017 11,507 46.02
2018 13,189 52.76

Petitions with at least 50,000 supporters

The following electronic petitions, addressed to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag, were signed by 50,000 and more supporters.

Table: Petitions with at least 50,000 supporters
Signatory thereof online of which paper Period ID no. content
60,064 January / February 2007 334 Petition for an internship law aimed at combating grievances for the “ internship generation ”
128.193 June / July 2008 630 Petition to "halve the taxation of diesel and petrol"
54,236 54,236 - December 2008 to February 2009 1422 Reform proposals in social security - unconditional basic income from 10.12.2008
approximately 134,000 134.015 / 133.778 May / June 2009 3860 The petition submitted by Franziska Heine "No indexing and blocking of Internet sites " was at that time the petition with the most supporters in the online petition system itself. It retained this status for almost 10 years until December 2018 A public consultation took place on the petition, which was also broadcast live on the Internet and can now still be viewed.
106,575 106,575 - July / August 2009 4517 A petition submitted by Monika Bestle, the aim of which is to have GEMA's business practices checked for their constitutionality.
66,033 39,565 26,468 December 2009 / January 2010 8236 The petition to introduce a financial transaction tax was supported by 39,565 valid signatories on the Internet and more than 20,000 signatories on paper.
186.356 105.386 80,970 June / July 2010 11400 On May 5, 2010, the German Midwives Association launched an e-petition and in three days exceeded the 50,000 supporters required for a safe public meeting of the committee. The petition was directed against the rising liability premiums and the general poor pay of freelance midwives. With a total of 186,356 signatures, of which slightly more than 105,000 were made on the website of the Petitions Committee and the rest by signature, it has so far been the petition with the most supporters.
73,978 73,978 - October / November 2010 13587 The signatories demand compliance with the contracts for the shutdown of nuclear power plants by 2023.
121,819 121,819 - November / December 2010 14032 Petition by Wasilka Heim against a feared ban on the sale of medicinal plants and a possible associated declaration and licensing in the EU .
64,704 64,704 - September / October 2011 17143 Application to declare suspicious data retention to be inadmissible and to demand a Europe-wide ban on the same.
61,305 61,305 - March / April 2012 22697 Motion to suspend the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
80,629 80,629 - May / June 2012 23835 Petition against the plans of Federal Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen to introduce compulsory pension insurance with income-independent contributions for the self-employed
96,567 55,523 41,044 August / September 2012 26229 A petition, submitted by Hans-Jürgen Werner, with the aim of exempting ballet, dance or music schools as before in the planned amendment to the annual tax law.
62,842 62,842 - October / November 2012 35441 Application for the lifting of the so-called GEMA presumption
76,530 76,530 - May / June 2013 41906 Application for the commitment of internet providers to net neutrality. The trigger for this was the reduction in speed when the data volume of the Telekom landline connection was used up, which is due to come into force in 2016. The e-petition received the required 50,000 signatures after just 3 days.
89,786 55.271 34,515 October / November 2013 46483 Abolition of sanctions and restrictions on benefits (SGB II and SGB XII). The German Bundestag should decide to delete without replacement the paragraphs in Book Two of the Social Security Code (basic security for jobseekers, § 31 to § 32 SGB II) and in Book Twelve Social Security Code (Social Assistance, § 39a SGB XII), which allow sanctions or benefit restrictions include.
83,156 36,149 47.007 October / November 2017 73900 Legalization of cannabis in Germany
65.214 57,512 7,702 May / June 2018 79822 Joint declaration 2018 - The petition was directed "against illegal mass immigration".
203,459 159,779 43,680 November / December 2018 85363 Healthcare professions - Rejection of the draft law for the Appointment Service and Supply Act (TSVG) of 25.10.2018 The petition was directed against the introduction of tiered and controlled care in psychotherapy in order to prevent additional hurdles for the mentally ill.

This petition set a new record for the number of supporters who signed up online. In addition, on December 13, 2018, 43,680 signatures were handed over to the chairman of the Petitions Committee on lists. The petition was submitted by the petitioner Ariadne Sartorius from the federal board of the Federal Association of Contract Psychotherapists with the support of 28 psychotherapy associations.

107.964 107.964 November / December 2018 85565 Petition against the United Nations Global Compact for Migration .
59,040 59,040 March / April 2019 89913 General speed limit of 130 km / h on German motorways
54,643 54,643 March / April 2019 88260 Suspension of proceedings for the award of 5G mobile communications licenses / No introduction of the 5G mobile communications standard without proof of safety
84,612 54,405 30.207 April / May 2019 92805 Appropriate transitional arrangements for current psychology students and PiA
81,425 81,425 April / May 2019 91015 Taxation of period products with the reduced VAT rate of 7%
55,108 55,108 July 2019 94357 Climate protection - declaration of a climate emergency within the next three months in order to achieve an effective climate policy
73.177 56,847 16,330 May 2019 89118 International Law - Recognition of the Holodomor 1932–1933 in Ukraine as genocide
413.473 10,754 402.719 July / August 2019 94089 Drug prices - ban on mail order sales of prescription drugs
57,067 57,067 October / November 2019 99915 Consumer protection - CO2e labeling on food from October 1st, 2019
176.134 176.134 March / April 2020 108191 Proposals for reform in social security - introduction of an unconditional basic income from March
14th, 2020 This petition set a new record for the number of online supporters by the end of the signing period on April 27th, 2020.
95,342 95,268 74 July / August 2018 80946 Petition to expand the Packaging Act (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2234, valid from 01.01.2019) to include specific measures that greatly reduce the use of non-biodegradable packaging in the food sector.

Web links

Activity reports of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag

The activity reports for the years up to and including 2008 were published as Bundestag printed matter (BT-Drs.). A separate brochure has been and is being published for the years since 2009, with the title of the year of issue but the content of the previous year.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ International Teledemocracy Center
  2. ↑ Submitting, signing and discussing a petition - note. (No longer available online.) German Bundestag , August 19, 2008, archived from the original on July 13, 2009 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 (the online petition system of the German Bundestag ran on a server in Scotland until October 2008).
  3. ↑ Co -governing via online petition October 14, 2008 At: netzeitung .de Co-governing via online petition ( Memento from October 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ https://epetionen.bundestag.de/ - overview of public petitions
  5. ↑ Instructions: It is so easy to participate in the petition ( Memento of July 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Deutscher Hanf Verband, December 18, 2010.
  6. ↑ Instructions: How do I sign an online petition? Greenpeace Germany, November 15, 2010 (PDF; 1.3 MB).
  7. ↑ Problem analysis of the petition software: ePetition problem analysis
  8. ↑ Wikinews: Petition for a basic income paralyzes the Bundestag server
  9. ↑ Video of the hearing on November 8, 2010
  10. ^ German Bundestag report ( Memento from November 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Principles of the Petitions Committee on the handling of requests and complaints, para. 4, p. 1 Principles of the Petitions Committee ( Memento of August 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ General information on the petition process. German Bundestag , archived from the original on January 21, 2016 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Petitions Committee: Principles of the Petitions Committee on the handling of requests and complaints (procedural principles) ( Memento of August 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), No. 8.4, paragraph 4
  14. ↑ Public hearings and meetings of the Petitions Committee in the Bundestag media library : → Committee meetings → Filter by committee: “Petitions”.
  15. ↑ Submit a petition. In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  16. ↑ Interview with the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag ( memento from June 29, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: gulli.com , May 14, 2013, accessed on April 1, 2017
  17. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ https://epetionen.bundestag.de/epet/service.$$$.rubrik.unterstuetzerausffekt.html
  19. ↑ Petitions Committee of the Bundestag: Annual report reveals significant shortcomings ( Memento from November 17, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) In: gulli.com , May 15, 2013, accessed on April 1, 2017
  20. ^ Lars Sobiraj: Interview with the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. In: gulli.com , May 14, 2013 ( http://www.gulli.com/news/21520-interview-mit-dem-petitionsausschuss-des-deutschen-bundestages-2013-05-14 ( Memento from June 29 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) )
  21. ^ Annual report of the Petitions Committee 2014, PDF ( Memento of October 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), p. 86 ff .; Retrieved October 10, 2014
  22. ↑ Promotion of professional development / internship: Demarcation of employment relationships by law
  23. ↑ Halving the taxation of diesel and petrol
  24. ↑ Petition 1422 Reform proposals in the social insurance - Unconditional basic income from December 10, 2008 In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  25. ↑ Internet - No indexing and blocking of websites Petition: Internet - No indexing and blocking of websites from April 22, 2009 ( Memento from May 25, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  26. ↑ Petition 3860 Internet - No indexing and blocking of Internet pages from April 22, 2009. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, April 22, 2009, accessed on December 6, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Indexing and blocking of websites (public hearing of the Petitions Committee on February 22, 2010)
  28. ↑ Petition: Civil Law - Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (GEMA) of May 19, 2009
  29. ↑ Petition: Tax Policy - Introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax from November 6, 2009
  30. ↑ Financial transaction tax: stage win for campaign, accessed on December 9, 2009
  31. ↑ epetionen.bundestag.de Petition 11400 Healthcare Professions - Immediate Measures for Local Midwifery Assistance from
  32. ↑ Tagesschau: Midwife supporters click every second ( Memento from May 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  33. ↑ Press release of the Dt. Midwifery Association ( Memento from January 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) from June 20, 2010
  34. ↑ Petition: Nuclear supply and disposal - compliance with the contracts for the shutdown of nuclear power plants by 2023 from August 17, 2010
  35. ↑ Jost Maurin: Petition to the Bundestag: Dubious action for medicinal herbs. In: taz.de . April 29, 2011, accessed December 24, 2014 .
  36. ↑ Petition on medicinal plants: Absurd fear for chamomile In: Spiegel Online from November 11, 2010
  37. ↑ Official Journal of the European Union: DIRECTIVE 2004/24 / EG (PDF)
  38. ↑ Petition: No implementation of the EU sales ban on medicinal plants, accessed on November 12, 2010
  39. ↑ Petition 17143 Code of Criminal Procedure - Ban on data retention of March 15, 2011 In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  40. ↑ Petition 22697 Copyright - Suspension of the ratification of ACTA from February 10, 2012 In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  41. ↑ Fundamental questions on contribution and insurance law in statutory pension insurance - No pension insurance obligation for the self-employed Petition 23835 Fundamental questions on contribution and insurance law in statutory pension insurance - No pension insurance obligation for self-employed from March 28, 2012
  42. ↑ Petition: Sales tax - tax exemption for private ballet, dance or music schools from August 1, 2012
  43. ↑ simultaneous recording of the petition 35441 In: epetitionen.bundestag.de
  44. ↑ Petition 46483: Unemployment benefit II - Abolition of sanctions and restrictions on benefits (SGB II and SGB XII) from October 23, 2013 In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  45. ↑ Petition 73900: Addiction dangers - legalization of cannabis in Germany from September 25, 2017 In: epetionen.bundestag.de
  46. ↑ Bundestag: Petition 79822 Asylum Law - "Joint Declaration 2018" of May 17, 2018. In: Petition page of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, May 17, 2018, accessed on May 17, 2018 .
  47. ↑ Petition 85363 Healthcare Professions - Rejection of the draft law on the Appointment Service and Supply Act (TSVG). Retrieved December 10, 2018 .
  48. ↑ Petition 85565 United Nations (UN) - Global Compact for Migration from November 1, 2018. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, November 1, 2018, accessed on December 12, 2018 .
  49. ↑ Petition 89913 Road Traffic Regulations - General speed limit of 130 km / h on German motorways from January 9, 2019. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, January 9, 2019, accessed on April 1, 2019 .
  50. ↑ Petition 88260 Radiation Protection - Suspension of proceedings for the award of 5G mobile communications licenses / No introduction of the 5G mobile communications standard without a certificate of harmlessness dated December 5, 2018. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, December 5, 2018, accessed on April 12, 2019 .
  51. ↑ Petition 92805 Health Professions - Appropriate transitional regulations for current psychology students and PiA from March 31, 2019. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, March 31, 2019, accessed on May 30, 2019 .
  52. ↑ Petition 91015 VAT - Taxation of period products with the reduced VAT rate of 7% from 02/09/2019. In: Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Bundestag, March 31, 2019, accessed on May 30, 2019 .
  53. ↑ Climate protection - declaration of a climate emergency within the next three months to achieve an effective climate policy from 02.05.2019. In: epetionen.bundestag.de. German Bundestag , accessed on August 7, 2019 .
  54. ↑ International Law - Recognition of the Holodomor 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide from December 14, 2018. In: epetionen.bundestag.de. German Bundestag , accessed on August 7, 2019 .
  55. ↑ Drug prices - ban on mail order sales of prescription drugs from April 24, 2019. In: epetionen.bundestag.de. German Bundestag , accessed on April 22, 2020 .
  56. ↑ Consumer protection - CO2e labeling on food from October 1st, 2019. In: epetionen.bundestag.de. German Bundestag , accessed on November 13, 2019 .
  57. ↑ Reform proposals in social security - introduction of an unconditional basic income from March 14, 2020. In: epetionen.bundestag.de. German Bundestag , accessed April 28, 2020 .
  58. ↑ Petitions: Petition 80946. Accessed June 26, 2020 .