The German Federal Government is obliged to notify the Bundestag comprehensively and at the earliest possible opportunity of developments in the European Union (Article 23[2] Basic Law in combination with Sections 3 and 4 of the Act on Cooperation between the Federal Government and the German Bundestag in Matters concerning the European Union).

Provision of comprehensive information

The German Federal Government is, in particular, obliged to forward all Commission proposals for European Union regulations and directives to the Bundestag, inform the Bundestag about the plans for and deliberations on these pieces of draft legislation at the European level and explain its own standpoint in the negotiations as well as the positions of the other Member States. Subsequent documents that provide information about the further progress of the deliberations in the Council bodies are to be forwarded to the Bundestag in a similar fashion. Furthermore, within a period of five sitting days after an EU item has been transmitted to parliament, the German Federal Government must draw up a written explanatory report setting out the main impact of the EU proposal, its political significance, the German interest in the project, its compatibility with the principle of subsidiarity and other relevant issues. The departmental note is to be updated when the circumstances change significantly or there are major developments in the negotiations. It must also be supplemented with oral statements if this is requested by the committees concerned.

Earliest possible provision of information

Receiving information as early as possible enables the Bundestag to get involved in the deliberations on a European policy item while it is still possible to influence its substance. It is hardly possible for parliament to participate actively in the shaping of legislation at the end of a process of coordination and compromise between the parties to the European Treaties that, in many cases, will have been going on for many years.