Council of Elders
The Council of Elders is a joint deliberative body whose task under the Rules of Procedure is to manage the internal affairs of the Bundestag. It is composed of the President, the Vice-Presidents and 23 further Members of the Bundestag appointed by the parliamentary groups in proportion to their size. They include all the parliamentary secretaries (whips) of each parliamentary group.
The Council of Elders meets regularly during each week of sittings and is chaired by the President of the Bundestag. Its meetings are also attended by a representative of the Federal Government, generally one of the ministers of state at the Federal Chancellery.
The Council of Elders performs two different types of function. Firstly, it assists the President in the conduct of business and ensures that agreement is reached among the parliamentary groups, for instance on the Bundestag's programme of work in plenary session. Secondly, as a collegiate body it decides on the internal affairs of the Bundestag, so long as these do not fall within the exclusive competence of the President or the Presidium.
At the beginning of each electoral term, one of the first tasks of the Council of Elders is to reach agreement on the distribution of committee chairs, and deputy chairs, among the parliamentary groups. The number and size of committees, as well as the system used to determine their composition, which is proportional to the relative strengths of the parliamentary groups, are decided ultimately by the Bundestag. As a rule, it bases its decisions on agreements reached among all the parliamentary groups in the House (cross-party agreements).
Until 1970, the relative strengths of the parliamentary groups were calculated using the d'Hondt method, which was also used to calculate the outcome of federal elections until the Bundestag's tenth term (1983). The result, however, tended to favour the larger parties.
Since 1970, a system has been used which better reflects mathematical proportionality in the case of small numbers. In the ninth electoral term (1980), this system was refined by applying the Saint Lague/Schepers method. Using this method, the total number of Members of the Bundestag is divided by the number of members of each parliamentary group; the resulting number is then multiplied progressively by 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and so on. These calculations produce rank order numbers according to which the seats are distributed: the first seat is allocated to the parliamentary group with the lowest rank order number, the second seat to the one with the next lowest rank order number, and so on.
Calculation of the distribution of seats
The distribution of committee chairs and deputy chairs among the parliamentary groups is also calculated using the Saint Lague/Schepers method. In the past, the parliamentary groups generally reached agreement on which of them would appoint the chairman and deputy chairman of each committee. In the current electoral term, they were unable to agree. A special procedure was therefore applied: in rank order (calculated in the above example on the basis of rank order numbers down to rank 15), the parliamentary groups choose which of the remaining vacant committee chairs they wish to fill.
The Council of Elders establishes the Bundestag's programme of work for the coming year well in advance. It generally tries to ensure that the Bundestag convenes for two weeks of sittings at a time, followed by one or two weeks in which there are no sittings. Owing to differences in school holidays, the summer recess and special public holidays, this is not always possible, however. For many years, therefore, the number of weeks of sittings has varied between 22 and 24.
During each week of sittings, Monday evening is generally reserved for meetings of the parliamentary groups' executive committees; Tuesday morning for meetings of their working groups; and Tuesday afternoon for full meetings of the parliamentary groups. The committees meet on Wednesday, except between 13.30 and 14.30 when an hour is reserved for question time in the plenary chamber. On Thursday, the Bundestag meets in plenary session from 09.00 until evening. The Bundestag also meets in plenary session on Friday from 09.00 to midday. In some cases, this schedule is altered, for instance for the budget debate which normally takes up four sitting days.
In recent years, almost every week of sittings has included at least one debate on a matter of topical interest, and sometimes as many as three. These debates are scheduled in such a way as not to clash with other items of the Bundestag's work (for further details, see the section on debates).
It has meanwhile become customary for half an hour to be set aside on Wednesday afternoon from 13.00 to 13.30 for questions to be put by Members of the Bundestag to the Federal Government immediately after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning. This form of debate was incorporated into the Rules of Procedure in 1990.
Another important task of the Council of Elders is to set the plenary's agenda for the coming week. It decides on the items of business to be dealt with (bills, motions, major interpellations, government policy statements, etc.). It also decides whether a debate is to be held on any of the points on the agenda, on the length of such a debate, and on its structure. Except in the case of debates on major issues, where it is left to the parliamentary groups themselves to apportion speaking time, the Council of Elders agrees on the number of speakers and the amount of speaking time they will have.
However, all the agreements reached in the Council of Elders are really no more than proposals which the plenary can accept or reject. For instance, any Member of the Bundestag may move an amendment to the agenda of a sitting before the first item is called so long as the motion was submitted to the President by 18.00 hours on the previous day at the latest. The Bundestag must then take a decision on the motion. Members may also raise a point of order and request changes to the planned duration and structure of a debate. They virtually never do so, however. It is also rare for the Bundestag to conduct a vote on an amendment to the agenda. Once the agenda has been approved, which occurs automatically when the first item is called, a further item of business may be placed on the agenda only with the consent of all the parliamentary groups.
The President also discusses many other questions with the Council of Elders. These include committee schedules, the referral to committee of bills and other items of business, relating to EU legislation for instance, the rights of Members, and the exercise of parliamentary rights by the Bundestag. On all such matters, the President endeavours to achieve cross-party agreement in the Council of Elders, as this also ensures approval by the House.
On a range of matters, the Council of Elders may take decisions by majority vote. These include, in particular, preparing the estimates for the Bundestag budget (departmental budget 02 of the federal budget). Under the Rules of Procedures, the Budget Committee, when making its recommendations to the Bundestag for the last reading of the draft federal budget, may deviate from these estimates only in consultation with the Council of Elders, i.e. only once it has given the Council of Elders an opportunity to comment. The Council of Elders also decides on the allocation of rooms to the parliamentary groups and the Bundestag Administration as well as on matters relating to Members' personal staff and to documentation, in particular the Bundestag's vast library. Such decisions are prepared by commissions set up by the Council of Elders.
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