Gemeinsamer Ausschuss

The Joint Committee is a non-permanent constitutional body of the Federal Republic of Germany. If the defense case to the convening of the Bundestag insurmountable obstacles prevent, as he practices emergency parliament of the functions of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Joint Committee is two-thirds of members of the Bundestag and one-third of the Bundesrat members.

Legal bases

Articles Article 53a of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany:

" ( 1) The Joint Committee is two-thirds of members of the Bundestag, one third of the Bundesrat members. Representatives shall be determined by the Bundestag according to the relative strength of the fractions; they may not belong to the federal government. Each country will be represented by a Member of its Federal Council; these members are not bound by instructions. The formation of the Joint Committee and its proceedings shall be regulated by rules of procedure, to be adopted by the Bundestag and requiring the consent of the Bundesrat. ( 2) The Federal Government shall inform the Joint Committee about its plans for the defense case. The rights of the Bundestag and its committees under Article 43, paragraph 1 shall remain unaffected. "

Articles Article 115e of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany:

" ( 1) If the Joint Committee of defense, with a majority of two -thirds of the votes cast at least a majority of its members found that the timely convening of the Bundestag insurmountable obstacles prevent or that this is not a quorum, so has the Joint Committee, the position of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat and shall exercise their powers as uniform. ( 2) By a law of the Joint Committee, the Basic Law may not be modified or wholly or partly inoperative or put out of use. For enactment of laws under Article 23 paragraph 1 sentence 2, Article 24, paragraph 1 or Article 29, the Joint Committee shall not be authorized. "

Notes

The Joint Committee consists of 48 members.

The Committee takes over the functions of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, if it finds in the case of defense with two -thirds of the votes cast, representing at least a majority of its members, " that the timely convening of the Bundestag insurmountable obstacles prevent or that this is not a quorum ." The federal government needs the Committee " about their plans for the defense case [ ... ] teach ". The Joint Committee must not change and neither transferred sovereign rights still divide the new federal territory of the Basic Law.

Education and the rules of procedure are governed by the adopted by the Bundestag with the consent of the Federal Rules of Procedure for the Joint Committee.

Composition

Current distribution of seats by parliamentary groups: