Budget Committee

Public finances: a perennial issue?

The government does not get a single cent to spend without the approval of the German Bundestag. In this respect, the Bundestag’s Budget Committee is the "most parliamentary" of all its committees: it scrutinises the expenditure of the Federal Government and is responsible for deliberating on the federal budget each year. According to parliamentary custom, the chair of the Budget Committee is always a member of the largest opposition parliamentary group. One major issue the Budget Committee returns to over and over again is the restoration of the public finances to a sound footing.