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part of the procedure for granting the prior consent of the Finance Ministry, the 
Bundestag
and the 
Bundesrat
are notified of any excess or extra budgetary expenditure every three
months and in more extreme cases immediately. The BC rapporteurs can at any time
request additional information and updates. The BC can also request that the BRH monitors
and assesses the execution and progress of particular projects and the BRH reports
answering upwards of 900 parliamentary questions in a typical year.
As noted earlier, if a qualified freeze is in place, more information must be provided to
the BC before they authorise money to be released. Line ministries cannot negotiate with
the BC directly on the qualified freeze. Rather they must first convince the MOF which then
makes the request to the BC.
The parliament comes to the fore again during the audit phase when it examines the
annual report of the BRH (see Section 4.2 for a full discussion). The Federal Ministry of
Finance also renders accounts to the 
Bundestag
and the 
Bundesrat
of all revenues and
expenditures, as well as of assets and debts (Article 114 (1) of the Basic Law).
6.5. The impact of the legislature
The 
Bundestag
has unrestricted powers to amend the draft budget which it does not
hesitate to use in practice making around several hundred amendments every year
(Wehner, 2001). However, the 
Bundestag
is also bound by a constitutional requirement
(Art. 110 (1) of the Basic Law) that the budget shall be balanced with respect to revenues
and expenditures and ostensibly by the new “debt brake rule”. Ordinarily, if the BC decides
to significantly increase spending in one area they are in contact with the MOF for advice
on other areas with savings potential. In addition, a large portion of the budget is taken up
by mandatory spending, effectively limiting room for manoeuvre.
In practice, while the 
Bundestag
is highly influential in the budget process it has
consistently demonstrated a preference for fiscal prudence. The majority of amendments
tend to be fairly small and to involve reallocation of funds. The Budget Committee often
tries to achieve higher savings and to reduce the deficit in accordance with new tax
revenue estimates. This however does not mean that constituency needs are not prioritised,
as demonstrated by a recent decision by the BC to provide an additional EUR 1.75 billion for
road construction, beyond what had been recommended by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Table 6.