A view of the plenary chamber © German Bundestag

A parliamentary group can be formed by at least five percent of the Members of the German Bundestag, who usually belong to the same party. Members of the German Bundestag who do not belong to a party or join a parliamentary group are known as non-attached Members. In the 16th German Bundestag, there are five parliamentary groups and three non-attached Members, Gert Winkelmeier, Henry Nitzsche and Jörg Tauss.

The seats are distributed as follows: CDU/CSU 222, SPD 221, FDP 61, The Left Party 54, Alliance 90/The Greens 51.

The composition of the Council of Elders, the make-up of the committees and the Members appointed as committee chairpersons depend on the relative strengths of the individual parliamentary groups.