Roles and functions
Preparing for the plenary
There are days when everything is quiet in the Bundesrat. Whilst the bustle never stops in Bundestag, the Bundesrat seems to be having a break. But appearances can be deceptive. Two factors characterise the working methods of the Bundesrat and make it different from other legislative bodies: the dual function of its members and the deadlines that are set for important decisions. As a result, the work of the Bundesrat is mainly carried out in the capitals of the Länder and not at its seat in Berlin, and it is permanently under time pressure.
The deadlines set for deliberations on laws - six weeks (in certain cases, three or nine weeks) for the first reading, three weeks for the second reading and two weeks for objections - are extremely short and compel the Bundesrat to work at a strenuous pace. The amendment to the constitution in 1994 did not remove this time pressure, but merely attenuated it somewhat for the first reading. The nine-week deadline for opinions was reintroduced. It applies to bills on amendments to the Basic Law and on the transfer of sovereignty to the European Union or other international institutions. Furthermore the Bundesrat may request an extension from six to nine weeks for "good cause", particularly if a bill is especially voluminous.
The dates of plenary sessions are laid down in advance for each calendar year with due consideration to the weeks in which the Bundestag is in session. About 13 meetings are held each year at three-week intervals. The Federal Government submits its draft proposals to the Bundesrat six weeks (or three or nine weeks for the exceptional cases stipulated in the constitution) before these dates.
The drafts from the Bundestag are sent three weeks in advance. All drafts are immediately passed on to the committees concerned. As far as possible, they are printed on the day of receipt and distributed to the members. The committees have to have completed their deliberations two weeks before the plenary session. That means that only three weeks are available to prepare a position on draft bills from the Federal Government (the exceptions to the general rule mentioned above means this period may be less than one week or indeed six weeks), whilst the Bundesrat has less than a week to examine drafts from the Bundestag.
These extremely short deadlines are feasible only because Bundesrat members and the relevant experts from the Länder ministries have already sought data and information from other sources beforehand. However, it is only at this point in the whole procedure that the preparatory work for a decision can really begin. The state ministries must agree upon the position their state will adopt before the committee meeting. The Land cabinet must also address the general thrust of the bill at this juncture if a political issue is on the agenda.
The recommendations for the plenary session are drawn up in the Bundesrat committee meetings as a result of intensive deliberations. They are compiled by the secretary of the responsible committee in a printed version and form the basis for further decisions to be taken in the Länder capitals.
In formal terms, the Länder cabinets have to deal with all drafts and recommendations that have been put on the agenda of the Bundesrat. In practice however, other bodies at civil servant level have already examined the issues, which means that only important or controversial matters have to be decided in the cabinet. It decides whether the members of the Bundesrat are obliged to follow specific instructions in individual cases, how the votes should be cast and whether additional proposals are required.
Two days before the plenary session takes place, the officials dealing with Bundesrat matters in the Länder offices, together with leading officials of the secretariat and the Permanent Advisory Council, review the issues on the agenda in the light of the Länder cabinet decisions. During this preparatory phase there is naturally very active communication between the Länder with the aim of winning allies for their own position. A brief confidential meeting of Bundesrat members, the "preliminary discussion", is held on a regular basis immediately before the plenary session begins.
Resolutions are adopted on the individual drafts in the public session. They are communicated to the Federal Government or other responsible authorities on the same day and then published in printed form together with the minutes of the meeting. Generally speaking, the committee consultations for the next plenary meeting start all over again in the week after the plenary session.