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Rule 93b
Committee on the Affairs of the European Union
(1) The Committee on the Affairs of the European Union to be appointed by the Bundestag pursuant to Article 45 of the Basic Law shall have the task of dealing with EU documents pursuant to Rule 93, paragraph (1) in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and the decisions of the Bundestag.
(2) Upon the motion of a parliamentary group or five per cent of the Members of the Bundestag, the Bundestag may empower the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union, in respect of specifically designated EU documents, to exercise the rights of the Bundestag in relation to the Federal Government, in accordance with Article 23 of the Basic Law. It may also state its opinion on an EU document unless one of the committees concerned objects. The Bundestag’s right at any time to take a decision itself on a matter concerning the European Union shall remain unaffected.
(3) In the case of its empowerment pursuant to paragraph (2), first sentence, the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union shall, before stating its opinion to the Federal Government, request an opinion on the EU document from the committees concerned. If the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union wishes to deviate from the opinion of one or more committees, a joint meeting with the committees asked for an opinion should be convened. In urgent cases, the chairpersons of the committees asked for an opinion may have a written vote taken pursuant to Rule 72, second sentence.
(4) Paragraph (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis if the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union wishes to exercise its rights pursuant to paragraph (2), second sentence. A committee responsible may, stating its reasons, demand that the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union examine whether to exercise its right pursuant to paragraph (2), second sentence; if this is rejected, paragraph (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis. Committees asked for an opinion must be involved if the committee responsible and the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union view this as necessary; paragraph (3), third sentence shall apply mutatis mutandis.
(5) In derogation of Rule 60, the chairperson of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union shall also be entitled to convene a meeting of the committee outside the Bundestag’s timetable or at a place other than the permanent seat of the Bundestag if the schedule of the relevant organs of the European Union so requires and the President has given consent.
(6) In respect of the content of and the reasons for the opinion stated to the Federal Government by the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union on European documents, the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union shall submit a report; this report shall be distributed as a Bundestag printed paper and placed on the agenda within three weeks of sittings of its distribution. A debate shall, however, take place only if a parliamentary group so demands or if five per cent of the Members of the Bundestag, who shall be present, so demand.
(7) In respect of an EU document which has been referred to it as a committee asked for an opinion, the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union may move motions for amendments to the recommendation for a resolution submitted by the committee responsible; the motion for an amendment shall be submitted to the President by 18.00 hours at the latest on the day before the recommendation for a resolution on the EU document is considered.
(8) German Members of the European Parliament shall have access to the meetings of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union; specific German Members of the European Parliament shall be entitled to attend as representatives. Such Members of the European Parliament entitled to participate in the deliberations shall, upon the proposal of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag from whose parties German Members have been elected to the European Parliament, be appointed by the President of the German Bundestag to serve until the next European Parliament elections or until the end of the German Bundestag’s electoral term, whichever is the earliest. The Members of the European Parliament appointed shall be authorised to propose that items be deliberated upon, as well as to provide information and state an opinion during the deliberations of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union.
(9) The Committee on the Affairs of the European Union shall draw up principles governing the treatment of EU items sent to it and use them as the basis for the recommendations for resolutions it submits to the Bundestag or the opinions it addresses to the Federal Government.