Germany
Openness and transparency
Information about access to parliamentary documents, parliament’s reporting to the public, parliament’s relation to Freedom of Information laws, and lobbying.
Parliamentary documents
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance.
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance.
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site.
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website.
Citizens can submit comments on draft legislation on the parliamentary web site
No
Compare data of this field.
Annual reporting by parliament
Parliament publishes an annual report on its activities
Parliament publishes the parliamentary budget
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public: Only the total amount; A summary of the main elements; The complete budget
The complete budget
The parliamentary budget is available on the parliamentary web site
Yes
Access to parliament
Plenary meetings are open to the public
Notes
Prior registration is required for some of the visiting options offered by the Vistors' Service of the German Bundestag. This is to ensure that the limited number of available places are allocated as efficiently and fairly as possible. There is no interpretation service for plenary debates.
Committee meetings are open to the public
Notes
As a rule, committee meetings are not open to the public but are restricted to Members of Parliament, the federal government, the Bundesrat, committee staff, government staff, and staff of political groups.
Committee meetings are only broadcast in case of a public meeting, e.g. expert hearings.
Committee meetings are only broadcast in case of a public meeting, e.g. expert hearings.
There is a dedicated channel for broadcasting parliamentary meetings
A dedicated channel is one that is mainly about parliament, and is accessible free of charge to the general public. The channel might be owned by Parliament or a public or private company. Dedicated channels may be broadcast by parliament, government, or another broadcaster. They may be carried on television, radio or the Internet (webcasting).
Media used for the dedicated channel
TV
Webcast
Meetings broadcast on the dedicated channel
Plenary sittings
Committee meetings
Freedom of information
There is a freedom of information law in the country
Yes
Parliament is subject to the freedom of information law
Parliament has an office/division dedicated to FOI requests
Yes
Categories of Information that are exempt from disclosure
Certain categories of information may be exempt from disclosure
The Freedom of Information Act applies to the Bundestag only insofar as it discharges administrative tasks under public law. Thus, documents related to the parliamentary area (e.g., surveys of the Research Service of the Bundestag on behalf of parliamentarians) are exempted ipso facto from the scope of the Freedom of Information Act.