Blue-ribbon panel

Expert committees are advisory bodies, which are used for a limited period and with a contract.

Expert commissions to be set up in Germany by the Federal government or by state governments, but also private institutions (such as corporations, foundations, and similar). They are often mixed with representatives from academia, advocacy groups, policy and administration, and other specialists busy. They base their contracting in general, a fully formulated report, which contains recommendations for action.

Expert commissions of the Federal Government and the Bundestag

Examples of expert committees are the Hartz Commission, the Süssmuth Commission, the Rürup Commission and the Ethics Commission for a secure energy supply. In addition to these during the 14th and 15th legislative period, more than 20 other expert committees were appointed, which dealt with a variety of issues, from the reform of insurance contract law on the financing of lifelong learning to the development of a procedure for the establishment of nuclear repository sites.

Other bodies set up by the Federal Government and the Bundestag

Must be differentiated expert commissions of the similar composition of the ministerial councils, however, are appointed permanently. To distinguish also are purely internal administrative project or work groups in which work together representatives of different ministries or levels of detail. The parliamentary Enquete commissions established by the German Bundestag are subject to a more formal in their approach and treat most general topics.