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 17th German Bundestag, there are five parliamentary groups and no non-attached Members (update: 5 January 2010).

The seats are distributed as follows: CDU/CSU 239, SPD 146, FDP 93, The Left Party 76, Alliance 90/The Greens 68.

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.