Establishment and composition

In principle, it is up to Parliament at the beginning of each new electoral term to decide on the number of committees it wishes to establish and the number of members of these committees. However, the requirement for a Defence Committee to be established is anchored in the German constitution, the Basic Law (Article 45a (1), Basic Law). Apart from the Defence Committee, this is true only of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union and the Petitions Committee, the existence of which is also laid down in the Basic Law.

 

In the 16th electoral term, the Defence Committee comprises 31 members: 11 from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, 11 from the SPD, 3 from the FDP, 3 from the Left Party and 2 from Alliance 90/The Greens. This composition reflects the relative strengths of the parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag. In addition, during the current electoral term, the committee has one non-attached member, although this member has no voting rights.

 

There is a substitute member for each titular member of the Committee – with the exception of the non-attached member. The committee is chaired by Ulrike Merten from the SPD parliamentary group. Her deputy is Dr Karl A. Lamers from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.