Budget Committee (Germany)
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the federal parliament and all state parliaments (Landtage) have established Budget Committees, standing parliamentary committees generally responsible for deliberations on the budget act and for parliamentary oversight of budget execution.
If no separate is established, it also deals with fiscal policy issues such as tax policy, financial regulation, and customs matters. Some budget committees are therefore designated as "Finance Committee", as in Baden-Württemberg, or "Budget and Finance Committee", as in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin, the Budget Committee corresponds to the Hauptausschuss. In the Bundesrat, the Finance Committee performs the functions of the Budget Committee.
Budget Committee of the Bundestag
The Budget Committee of the Bundestag deliberates on the annual budget process. Furthermore, it continuously monitors the budget execution of the federal government and the financial assistance within the framework of European Stability Mechanism. According to parliamentary custom, the chairmanship of the Budget Committee was, until the 21st Bundestag always held by a member of the largest opposition parliamentary group. The Budget Committee is not responsible for tax policy, financial market regulation, or customs matters.The committee chairman in the 20th legislative period was CDU Member of Parliament Helge Braun. The main task of this committee is the deliberation of the Federal Budget Act. For this purpose, rapporteurs are appointed who examine the budget plans of each individual ministry, known as individual plans. Their findings serve as the basis for further committee deliberations. For each individual plan, the Budget Committee issues a separate recommendation for a resolution.
The Budget Committee begins its work on the federal budget after the draft budget proposed by the federal government has been referred to it, and after deliberation with a general debate and concluding debate in the first reading by the plenary session of the Bundestag. First, all individual plans are reviewed and, if necessary, amended in rapporteur discussions involving the respective ministry, representatives of the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the federal auditors. After the committee deliberations, all individual plans are finalized in a major and compiled into the final draft budget for the parliament. Some members of the Bundestag's Budget Committee form the for the approval of the secret economic plans of the federal intelligence services of Germany.
Chairpersons of the Budget Committee
- 1949–1969
- 1969–1977
- 1977–1981 Heinrich Windelen
- 1981–1982
- 1982–1983
- 1983–1994
- 1994–1998
- 1998–2002
- 2002–2005 Manfred Carstens
- 2005–2009
- 2009–2013
- 2014–2017 Gesine Lötzsch
- 2018–2021 Peter Boehringer
- since 2021 Helge Braun