The German Bundesrat (, ) is a legislative body that represents the sixteen states of Germany (German: Länder) at the federal level (German: Bundesebene). The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin at Leipziger Straße. Its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn.
In Germany's bicameral system, the Bundesrat legislates alongside the Bundestag. The Bundesrat members are appointed by state governments; the Bundestag representatives are elected by the German people. While all constitutional changes need the consent of both houses, only certain laws require bicameral consent. Thus Bundesrat is not an equal second house like United States Senate, Swiss Ständerat, or Australian Senate. Its power is closer to the Canadian Senate and the British House of Lords.
The name "Bundesrat" was used by similar bodies in the North German Confederation (1867) and the German Empire (1871). The predecessor of the Bundesrat in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the Reichsrat.
The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, and thus by elections in each state. Each state delegation in the Bundesrat is appointed by the state government. In contrast to most parliaments, the members of the Bundesrat do not have a free mandate and all members of a state delegation have to vote the same way in each vote. The Bundesrat is a continuous body and has no legislative periods. For organizational reasons, the Bundesrat structures its legislative calendar in years of business (Geschäftsjahre), beginning each year on 1 November. Each year of business is congruous with the one-year-term of the Presidium of the Bundesrat. The sessions have been counted continuously since the first session on 7 September 1949. The Bundesrat's 1,000th plenary meeting took place on 12 February 2021 and was opened with a speech by President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
History German Confederation The historical predecessor of the Bundesrat was the Federal Convention (Confederate Diet) of the German Confederation (1815–1848, 1850/1851–1866). That Federal Convention consisted of the representatives of the member states. The first basic law (Bundesakte) of the German Confederation listed how many votes a member state had, for two different formations of the diet. The diet was the only organ – there was no division of powers. The diet was chaired by the Austrian representative.
In the revolution of 1848 the Bundestag transferred its powers to the Imperial RegentRalf Heikaus: Die ersten Monate der provisorischen Zentralgewalt für Deutschland (Juli bis Dezember 1848). Diss. Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al., 1997, p. 48. and was reactivated only in 1850/1851. Several other attempts to reform the Confederation involved retaining the Bundestag and adding a parliament and a court. One of these attempts, the proposed Reform Act of 1863, had introduced the term Bundesrath. With the dissolution of the Confederation in August 1866,Christopher Clark: Preußen. Aufstieg und Niedergang 1600–1947. DVA, München 2007, p. 624. the diet and the federal law ended.
North German Confederation and German Empire (1867–1918)
On 1 July 1867 the North German Confederation was established as a confederal state. The Reichstag, elected by the North German men, was one legislative body. The other one was the Bundesrath (old spelling). This organ was expressly modelled after the old diet.Ernst Rudolf Huber: Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789. Vol. III: Bismarck und das Reich. 3rd edition. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 1988, p. 651. When the Confederation was transformed and renamed Deutsches Reich (German Empire) in 1871, the Bundesrat kept its name.
Whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful; it had the right of legislative initiative and every bill (including the budget) needed its consent, equaling it to the popularly elected Reichstag. It could also, with the Emperor's agreement, dissolve the Reichstag.
Weimar Republic (1918/19–1933) In the revolution of 1918, the revolutionary organ ("Council of People's Representatives") limited the power of the Bundesrat to its administrative functions. A (committee of states) accompanied the reform of Germany but had no official role in installing the new constitution. Under that Weimar Constitution, ratified on 11 August 1919, it was replaced by the (1919–1934).
The of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) had considerably less influence, since it could only veto bills—and even then be overruled by the . However, overruling the needed a majority of two-thirds in the , which consisted of many parties differing in opinion. So, in most cases, bills vetoed by the failed due to the lack of unity among the 's constituent parties. The was abolished by the "Law on the Abolition of the Reichsrat" on 14 February 1934, roughly a year after Hitler had come to power.
Federal Republic (since 1949) With the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World War and the adoption of the Basic Law as the new constitution, the chamber of states was re-established, again under the name 'Bundesrat'. The new Bundesrat, in terms of its power, occupies an intermediate position between the very powerful Bundesrat of the empire and the relatively weak Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic. The Bundesrat now once again has the right of legislative initiative, but its absolute right of veto applies only to certain laws that directly affect the federal states; otherwise its vetos can be overruled by the Bundestag with an absolute majority. The latter also applies to the federal budget.
Tasks
Legislative process The Bundesrat is one of three constitutional bodies (along with the Bundestag and the federal government) that have the right of initiative for the legislative process. Legislative initiatives by the federal government must be formally brought to the attention of the Bundesrat, which may respond to them with a statement within six weeks or within three weeks if the government considers the bill to be urgent. The bill can only be discussed in the Bundestag once this statement has been made or the deadline runs out. The Bundesrat can demand an extension of the deadline to nine weeks or, in the case of an urgent bill, to six weeks. If instead the Bundesrat proposes a bill, it must first be submitted to the Federal Government for a statement before the Bundestag can deal with it.
If the Bundestag adopts the bill, it must be forwarded to the Bundesrat. There are two possibilities here: If a proposed law directly affects the states or if they would have to participate in its enforcement, it is called an "approval bill": The Bundesrat must approve such a bill by a majority vote in order for it to become a law. If the stated condition is not met, one speaks of an "objection bill": Such a bill becomes a law if the Bundesrat does not object to it within 14 days. However, the Bundestag can overrule the objection with a majority of its members (Chancellor majority). If the Bundesrat lodges an objection with a two-thirds majority, the Bundestag can only overrule it with a two-thirds majority. The two variants differ significantly because, due to the special voting procedures in the Bundesrat, a positive vote is always more difficult to achieve than a negative one. This is because a majority of all possible votes (currently 35 out of 69) is always required for a positive vote. A delegation can only vote yes on a motion if there is a consensus in the respective state government. If such a consensus does not exist (which is often the case, as most state governments are multi-party coalitions), the delegation must abstain, which in effect has the same result as a no vote. In short, for approval bills, a majority must be present in the Bundesrat, while for objection laws, it is sufficient if no majority is formed against them.
Under no circumstances can the Bundesrat amend a bill. However, in the case of "approval laws" in particular, if the Bundesrat rejects a bill, the matter is often referred to the so-called mediation committee, a body made up of an equal number of members of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, which attempts to negotiate whether the bill can find the approval of both chambers with certain amendments. A version amended in this way must then be passed again by a majority in both chambers in order to become law (in this case the rules of procedure of both chambers provide for an abbreviated legislative procedure).
One important difference between the Bundesrat and an upper house in a true bicameral legislature is that the Bundesrat always decides on a bill only after the Bundestag and can adopt it only in the form adopted by the Bundestageven if the bill originated in the Bundesrat itself. It is even possible for the Bundesrat to first propose a bill and then reject it after the law has been passed in the Bundestag because the majority in the chamber has changed in the meantime.
Election of judges to the federal constitutional court The Bundesrat shares responsibility with the Bundestag for electing the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court. Both chambers elect four judges to each of the court's two senates. They also elect the president and vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court in alternating order. This requires a two-thirds majority, which currently stands at 46 of 69 votes.
Emergency powers The Bundesrat also has certain powers that can be brought to use in special states of emergency.
Article 81 of the Basic Law provides for a state of legislative emergency. This state may be triggered only if a motion of confidence proposed by the Chancellor fails, the President declines to subsequently dissolve the Bundestag, and the Bundestag rejects a bill designated by the federal government as urgent. At the request of the Chancellor and with the consent of the Bundesrat, the President may declare a legislative emergency with regard to the bill. If the Bundestag then rejects the bill again, adopts it in a version deemed by the federal government to be unacceptable, or refuses to act within four weeks, the bill is deemed to have been passed if the Bundesrat approves it. The Basic Law cannot be amended, repealed or suspended, either in whole or in part, by means of this procedure. The state of legislative emergency lasts six months, and any other bill meeting the conditions in that time may be passed in the same manner. Only one legislative emergency can be declared during a Chancellor's term of office. Article 91 of the Basic Law provides that in the event of an "an imminent danger to the existence or free democratic basic order of the Federation", the federal government may place the police forces of one or more states under its command and deploy units of the Federal Police to combat the danger. Any order given under this provision may be countermanded by a majority vote of the Bundesrat.
Seat
From 1894 to 1933, the Bundesrat/Reichsrat met in the same building as the Reichstag, today known as Reichstagsgebäude. After 1949, the Bundesrat gathered in the Bundeshaus in Bonn, along with the Bundestag, at least most of the time. A wing of the Bundeshaus was specially built for the Bundesrat.
In 2000, the Bundesrat moved to Berlin, as the Bundestag had done the year before. The Berlin seat of the Bundesrat is the former Prussian House of Lords building. The Bundesrat wing in Bonn is still used as a second seat.
Composition
Historically