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Tasks of study commissions

Study commissions are institutionalised advisory bodies of the German Bundestag, where Members work together with external experts on topics specified by the Bundestag. Their basic task is to gather as much relevant information as possible on the subject in question, thereby providing law makers with a basis for decision-making on complex and important issues.

Collecting information

Therefore, the main work of a study commission consists of collecting information and subsequently evaluating it in the form of a final report. The first step is thus to identify the material containing the necessary knowledge and data.

During the first six months, study commissions are required to elaborate a programme of work, which should be as detailed as possible.

Making use of expertise

A wide range of possibilities is open to study commissions to obtain information on a particular topic. Most important in the first instance is to make use of the expertise, knowledge and experience of both the parliamentarian and expert members of the commission.

In addition to this internal expertise, trips by delegations and attendance at academic conventions and political conferences also help to provide background knowledge, practical viewpoints and concrete ideas. Each study commission has a secretariat, which provides support in this. The secretariats also generally employ several research assistants, who are mainly involved in preparing the commission’s minutes and reports, but also assist in the gathering of information.

External sources

Because of the complexity of the subjects, it is often necessary to obtain information, which even the commission’s expert members do not have themselves. Therefore, use is made of external sources of information.

Alongside cooperation with the responsible ministries, the commission can also organize public and private hearings with experts, representatives of interest groups and other persons able to provide relevant information, as well as discussion fora. This provides an opportunity to put questions directly to experts who are not included in the commission and representatives of particular groups or people affected by the topic.

Commissioning reports

In order to gain additional information, the commission can take a majority decision to commission individual academics, research institutes etc to prepare reports and other pieces of research. Separate funds are set aside for this purpose in the budget of the German Bundestag.

In contrast to the situation in permanent committees, the external experts within the study commissions work together with the Members of the Bundestag on equal terms. The work of the study commissions is also not subject to the constraints of day-to-day politics, as is the case for the permanent committees.

For the first time in the history of study commissions

The decision setting up the Study Commission on the Future of Civic Activities is the first to provide for involvement by the commission during the current legislative term in the passage of legislation concerning civic activities.

Nevertheless, the composition and structure of study commissions mean they are not amongst the bodies charged with preparing the deliberations and decisions of the German Bundestag; thus they are not in the position to present recommendations for decisions to the Bundestag.

Targeted analysis

Study commissions may not participate in legislative proceedings in either a lead or advisory capacity. They may only provide expert opinions. Thus the task of a study commission is not to prepare current legislation, but to produce a targeted analysis on the topic in question and prepare recommendations for action, which the parliament can use to decide on legislation. Therefore, they have the character of advisory bodies.

The constitutional basis of the study commissions is not, unlike that of the committees of inquiry, anchored in the Basic Law itself (Article 44), but is grounded in the autonomy granted to the Bundestag in the Basic Law (Article 40) to draw up its own rules of procedure. According to these rules, the Bundestag may also organize its work and the completion of its tasks according to the principle of participation of all. It is free to create the necessary instruments to provide political advice in the form of study commissions (Rules 56 and 74 of the Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag).

Obligation to present a report

Having gathered and processed the relevant information, the study commission is obliged to present a report at the end of its work. This obligation to the parliament must in principle be met by the end of the legislative term.

The findings set out in the report are then formulated into concrete recommendations to the Bundestag, since the Bundestag’s purpose in setting up the relevant study commission was to obtain assistance in the preparation of decisions. These recommendations are generally intended to be used in the preparation of acts of parliament or other parliamentary resolutions.

Since these recommendations are, however, presented by an advisory body, rather than by an organ like a specialised committee, charged with preparing the deliberations and decisions of the parliament, the German Bundestag may rethink them before accepting them and refer them to the responsible specialised committees. This means that study commissions do not have an independent right to initiate legislation. For this reason, the findings of the study commissions are known as "recommendations" (Empfehlungen), in contrast to the the permanent committees’ "recommendations for resolutions" (Beschlussempfehlungen), which are intended to prepare the deliberations and decisions of the Bundestag.

Sources

• Heyer/Liening: "Stichwort Enquete-Kommissionen" (All about Study Commissions), published by the Public Relations Division of the German Bundestag

• Heyer: "Enquete-Kommissionen des Deutschen Bundestages" (The German Bundestag’s Study Commissions), produced by the Reference and Research Services of the German Bundestag, 60/98 of 2 September 1998

• Heyer/Lutz: "Möglichkeiten der Beteiligung von Enquete-Kommissionen an laufenden Gesetzgebungsverfahren" (Possibilities for Participation by Study Commissions in ongoing legislative Proceedings), produced by the Reference and Research Services of the German Bundestag, 41/00 of 24 March 2000