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parties’ state lists (proportional). Members serve four year terms although the 
Bundestag
can
be dissolved earlier by the President if the Chancellor loses a vote of confidence.
The 
Bundesrat
represents the sixteen 
Länder
(federal states). Its 69 members are not
elected; rather delegations are appointed by the 
Länder
governments and members’ terms
are linked to those of the 
Länder
governments. One of the particularities of the 
Bundesrat
is
that each delegation must vote 
en bloc
. Each state is allocated at least three votes, and a
maximum of six, which are allocated based on a form of degressive proportionality according
to population size.
Although the budget is submitted to both legislative bodies simultaneously, the
Bundestag
has the prerogative in the budget process.
23
6.2. The Budget Committee
The Budget Committee (BC) is regarded as the 
Bundestag’s
most powerful and prestigious
committee. Traditionally, it is the largest of the permanent committees with just over
Box 15.
The German Bundestag and the European Union
European policy is increasingly merging with domestic policy in Germany. The Eurozone
crisis in particular has impacted heavily on the on the legislative work of the Bundestag, its
organisation and agenda, and the parliamentary administration. In recent years, the
Bundestag has sought to strengthen its rights to scrutinize and participate in government
policymaking as regards European policy, have been strengthened through revisions to the Act
on Co-operation between the Federal Government and the German Bundestag in Matters
concerning the European Union (EUZBBG) and the Responsibility for Integration Act (IntVG). In
2007 the Bundestag opened a liaison office in Brussels tasked with monitoring forthcoming
initiatives and decisions at the European level, and with improving networking and dialogue.
Its personnel are provided by the parliamentary administration and the parliamentary groups.
In January 2013, the parliamentary administration in Berlin also established a new
European affairs sub-directorate, including a new analytical division responsible for assisting
Members and parliamentary groups in areas covered by the Economic Affairs Committee, the
Finance Committee, the Budget Committee and the EU Affairs Committee. The secretariat of
the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union (established when the Maastricht Treaty
was ratified) was incorporated into this new directorate. The Budget Committee acquired a
new role in decisions on the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability
Mechanism. It has seen its workload increase dramatically and has been forced to take on
more of a law-making function than previously (Schattenmann, 2013). As part of its response
to these increasing demands, the Budget Committee has maintained its own Subcommittee
on European Union Questions with around 12 members since 2002 (see below).

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64
40 members assigned to it based on proportional representation of the party groups in the
Bundestag
.
24
 The prominence enjoyed by the Budget Committee is further enhanced by the
important role played by its two subcommittees: (1) the Subcommittee on Audit
25
with
around 15 members and the newer Subcommittee on European Union Questions with around
12 members (see above).
26
By tradition, the chair of the Budget Committee is always a member of the largest
opposition parliamentary group. This is in line with what is considered good practice in
many parliaments (e.g. UK and the majority of Westminster style parliaments, France) and
signals a willingness to operate the committee in a nonpartisan and consensual manner.
Most of the Budget Committee’s meetings are held in private. This is seen as a way to
further depoliticise the committee’s work. However, the committee publishes the results of
its deliberations, and hearings are held in public. In contrast to the work of the BC, party
divisions are on display during budget debates in the plenary which is always public.
27
The Budget Committee organises its work through a strict rapporteur system. At the
beginning of each electoral term the Budget Committee appoints a lead rapporteur and
three assistant rapporteurs (one from each party) to cover each departmental budget. The
rapporteurs remain responsible for this portfolio for the full electoral term (or more,
especially in the case of rapporteurs form smaller parties), allowing them to develop
significant expertise. Again, the responsibility of the rapporteurs is considerable because in
addition to their work within the Budget Committee, they are the principal source of
information for their parliamentary groups and their advice generally forms the basis of
their parliamentary group’s evaluation of the departmental budget in question (Linn and
Sobolewski, 2010). The BC’s Subcommittee on Audit also uses a rapporteur system but only
one member is assigned as rapporteur per portfolio and there are no assistant rapporteurs.
A rapporteur of the subcommittee cannot serve as a rapporteur for the same ministry or
department in the Budget Committee.