Dr. Norbert Lammert conducting a plenary sitting © German Bundestag

The sittings of the German Bundestag are held in public. The public may be excluded in accordance with Article 42(1) of the Basic Law.

The date and agenda for each sitting of the Bundestag are agreed in the Council of Elders.

The agenda is communicated to the Members of the German Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the Federal Government. If no objection is raised, it is deemed to have been adopted when the first item is called. Following the opening of a plenary sitting, any Member of the German Bundestag may move an amendment of the agenda before the first item is called, provided he or she has submitted this motion to the President by 18.00 hrs the previous day.