Parliament being informed by the Federal Government - Parliamentary State Secretary Barbara Hendricks (right) and the chairman of the Finance Committee Eduard Oswald © DBT

Information and scrutiny – parliamentary participation in European policy

The German Bundestag contributes to EU law by exerting influence over the German Federal Government, which is represented on the Council of the European Union (EU) and its committees and working groups. Parliamentary scrutiny is intended to ensure that the German Federal Government acts in line with the wishes of parliament when it takes part in the deliberations of the Council and its various configurations.

Scrutiny presupposes information

Effective parliamentary oversight is only possible if the Bundestag possesses adequate information. The German Federal Government is obliged to provide parliament with sufficient information for this purpose. Within the German Federal Government, EU items are dealt with by the ministry responsible for each particular area of policy. There is no ministry for European affairs with exclusive competence over these matters. However, the Federal Foreign Office, which is responsible for fundamental issues, and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, which coordinates the government’s responses to many ongoing developments in the EU, enjoy a prominent position with regard to European policy.

Both aspects of the Bundestag’s involvement – information and control – are regulated in Article 23(2) and (3) of the German Basic Law and addressed in greater detail by the Act on Cooperation between the Federal Government and the German Bundestag in Matters concerning the European Union of 12 March 1993.