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Are more and more laws being rushed through the Bundestag and Bundesrat? An evaluation shows: In the first year of the traffic light there were particularly many shortened deadlines. The number has now decreased.
The Bundestag and Bundesrat passed the so-called solar package today. The vote in both houses took place on the same day. To do this, it was necessary for the Federal Council to agree to a so-called shortening of the deadline. According to consistent sources from the Federal Council, the state representatives approved this shortening of the deadline with a clear majority.
In the past, however, there have been repeated conflicts between the federal and state governments over the means of shortening the deadline. Due to the requests from the federal government and the Bundestag to shorten deadlines, the states often felt pressured to make decisions quickly without having enough time to examine and form opinions. The accusation comes up again and again that the number of requests to shorten deadlines is constantly increasing. But is that true?
Dem ARD capital studio an internal evaluation by the Federal Council is available. The statistics go back to 2010. The paper distinguishes between the so-called supplies from the Bundestag and those from the federal government.
When the federal government sends requests to the Bundesrat to shorten deadlines, it is usually about draft laws. The state chamber has the right to express itself in a statement before the German Bundestag. The Federal Council normally has six weeks to do this. However, the federal government would often like to shorten this procedure and makes a request to shorten the deadline.
Submissions from the Bundestag concern laws passed by Parliament. For example the solar package. Normally a law like this takes three weeks for the Federal Council to decide on it. Here, however, the Bundestag can make a request to shorten the deadline and shorten this period with the consent of the Bundesrat.
Continuous Increase under Merkel
The Federal Council’s paper shows that there have always been a large number of requests for shortened deadlines in recent years. At the time of the black-yellow coalition in 2011, for example, 9.68 percent of the federal government and Bundestag’s supply lines.
As Angela Merkel’s chancellorship progressed, the number increased continuously. In 2017, 25.33 percent of the procedures were accompanied by a request to shorten the deadline. At the end of the Merkel era in 2021, the share rose to 27.52 percent. In total, there were 136 requests to shorten the deadline in 2021.
Highlight in the first year of the traffic light government
However, the Bundestag and Bundesrat made most of the requests for shortening the deadline in the first full year of the traffic light coalition. The government or coalition wanted the deadline to be shortened in around 43 percent of all procedures. But state circles say that this can be explained. The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine began in 2022. This also put Germany in a crisis situation to which there were often only short-term answers.
In 2023, the number of requests to shorten deadlines has fallen significantly again. At 19.75 percent, the value was again below the average of the last Merkel government, and there is no evidence of sharp increases in the numbers in the current year 2024 either. In particular, the number of requests from the federal government has decreased significantly.
From state circles it is said that the federal government and the Bundestag are now dealing with the issue very sensitively and are again showing more consideration to the states.
Who decides about that?
Decisions on requests for shortening of deadlines are always made by the Federal Council’s permanent advisory board. This committee is made up of the so-called representatives of the states at the federal level.
Here we will consider whether there really is no alternative to shortening the deadline for the upcoming procedure or whether the states can take the time they are entitled to. The states do not automatically agree to every request to shorten the deadline.