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Study commissions

A distinction must be made between committees of inquiry and study commissions. Whereas the former are composed entirely of Members of the Bundestag and have the task of investigating public affairs, the latter comprise both Members and independent experts. Their task is to gather as much relevent information as possible on a given subject, thereby providing law-makers with a basis for decision-making on complex and important issues. In these study commissions, the experts enjoy the same rights as the Members of the Bundestag. Unlike those submitted by committees of inquiry, the reports presented to the Bundestag by study commissions do not end with recommendations for decisions by the plenary. Rather, if the Bundestag is to take a decision on them, proposals contained in the reports must be taken up by the plenary or by the Federal Government and introduced in the Bundestag in the form of a motion or bill.

Study commissions are another instrument, in addition to public hearings, by means of which the Bundestag draws on external expertise. They do not affect the Federal Government's right to set up expert commissions of its own, as it has done already on subjects such as party law and electoral law.

In the 14th electoral term the following five study commissions were active in the German Bundestag:

• Study Commission on the Protection of Mankind and the Environment
  (12 Members and 12 experts)
  
• Study Commission on Overcoming the Consequences of the SED Dictatorship in the Process of German Unity
  (12 Members and 12 experts)
  
• Study Commission on Demographic Change
  (12 Members and 12 experts)
• Study Commission on the Future of the Media in the Economy and Society - Germany on the Way to the Information Society
  (11 Members and 11 experts)
• Study Commission on So-called Sects and Psycho-groups
  (24 Members and 11 experts)