The Defence Committee 2 “National and Alliance defence, international crisis management, missions abroad, emergency and disaster relief, the dangers posed by hybrid warfare and cyber threats: the range of tasks dealt with by our parliamentary army is huge. At the same time, a great deal is hap- pening in terms of the European Security and Defence Policy. It is important for Parliament to exam- ine, constructively and critically, the possibilities and opportunities of Permanent Structured Coopera- tion. We will also continue to focus on ensuring that the members of our armed forces receive the best possible training and are properly equipped, and on enhancing the appeal of the military profession.”

Wolfgang Hellmich, SPD Chairman of the Defence Committee

3 The German ’s decisions are prepared by its committees, which are estab- lished at the start of each elec- toral term. Four of them are stipulated by the Basic Law, the German constitution: the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Defence Committee, the Committee on the Affairs of the and the Petitions Committee. The Budget Committee and the Committee for the Rules of Procedure are also required by law. The spheres of respon- sibility of the committees essentially reflect the Federal Government’s distribution of ministerial portfolios. This enables Parliament to scruti- nise the government’s work effectively.

The Bundestag committees The German Bundestag sets political priorities of its own by establishing additional committees for specific sub- jects, such as sport, cultural affairs or tourism. In addition, special bodies such as parlia- mentary advisory councils, The committees discuss and committees of inquiry or deliberate on items referred study commissions can also to them by the plenary. They be established. The commit- also have the right to take up tees are composed of mem- issues on their own initiative, bers of all the parliamentary allowing them to set priorities groups, reflecting the balance in the parliamentary debate. of these groups in the German When necessary, they draw Bundestag. The distribution on external expertise – usu- of the chairs and deputy ally by holding public hear- chairs among the parliamen- ings. At the end of a commit- tary groups also reflects their tee’s deliberations, a majority relative strengths in the ple- of its members adopt a rec­om- nary. In the current electoral mendation for a decision and term, the committees have a report, which serve as the between nine and 49 mem- basis for the plenary’s deci- bers. sion.

5 The Defence Committee is a special committee in several respects: it is prescribed by the Basic Law, it always meets in closed session, and it can con- stitute itself as a committee of inquiry to carry out more in-depth investigations. There are good reasons for this special role. From a con­ stitutional perspective, the armed forces require particu- larly intensive oversight by Parliament and its Defence Committee due to the power they could potentially wield. Furthermore, the topics dis- cussed by the 36 Committee members, chaired by Wolfgang­ Hellmich (SPD), are often highly sensitive. After all, they can involve ’s security and that of its military allies, as well as the interests of personnel on active service.

The Defence Committee The Defence Committee is the counterpart at parliamentary level of the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Bundeswehr and This is particularly true with the Federal Defence Admi­ regard to the missions abroad nistration. In the process of carried out by the German democratic oversight, it plays armed forces within the frame- an important role in the adop- work of international security tion of the defence budget and policy. This issue is increa- the procurement of equipment singly dominating the Defence and materiel for the Bundes- Committee’s agenda. In 1994, wehr. The Committee is closely the Federal Constitutional involved when the Budget Court underlined the special Committee discusses the bud- character of the Bundeswehr get for the Ministry of Defence as a “parliamentary army”, and for the Parliamentary assigning the German Bundes­ Commissioner for the Armed tag a pivotal role in approving Forces – who also plays an missions abroad. Since then, important role in ensuring all missions abroad have ­parliamentary oversight. The required parliamentary appro- Defence Committee’s recom- val: in other words, the Bun- mendations are generally hee- destag’s consent is necessary ded by the Budget Committee. for the Bundeswehr to be Moreover, the Federal Ministry deployed as envisaged by of Defence must also submit the Federal Government. all procurement projects requi- Although the Committee on ring an outlay above 25 mil- Foreign Affairs is the lead lion euros to the Defence Com- committee in preparing the mittee for discussion. In other draft resolution on a mission words, the Bundestag and the abroad, the vote of the Defence relevant committees have a Committee, as a committee great deal of influence over asked for its opinion, carries the armed forces. considerable weight.

12 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ CDU/CSU 8 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ SPD 5 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ AfD 4 ■ ■ ■ ■ FDP 4 ■ ■ ■ ■ Party 3 ■ ■ ■ /The Greens

Number of members: 36 Chairman: , SPD Deputy Chairman: Prof. h.c. Dr Karl A. Lamers, CDU/CSU

7 A special right – the Defence Committee acting as a committee of inquiry

Committees of inquiry are the Bundestag’s most powerful instrument of parliamentary In addition to examining mili- scrutiny. They allow Members tary issues, the Committee of Parliament to question wit- members also receive reports nesses and experts, and obtain on the everyday experiences files and documents from pub- of service personnel and the lic bodies and private organi- consequences which missions sations. A decision by Parlia­ abroad can have. In order to ment is needed to establish gain an impression of the situ- a committee of inquiry. The ation on the ground, the Com- Defence Committee is diffe- mittee requests information rent: it is the only committee from the Federal Government which has the right under the or sends delegations to the Basic Law to constitute itself mission areas to ensure effec- as a committee of inquiry. tive parliamentary oversight. This means that the Commit- In short, the Defence Commit- tee members meet twice in tee is one of the most import- weeks when the Bundestag ant bridges between the armed is sitting: as the Defence Com- forces and the Bundestag. mittee on Wednesday and as

8 National and Alliance defence, missions abroad, military ­service and internal leader- ship – the Committee’s work in practice

The fact that the armed forces face major challenges in per- forming their duties in Ger- many and abroad is shown by the large number of items on the Defence Committee’s agenda. Currently, the Cri- mean crisis has resulted in national defence becoming more of a focus for defence policy, alongside Alliance defence. A particular priority the committee of inquiry on in the Committee’s work in the Thursday. The Defence Com- current electoral term will be mittee most recently made use the further development and of its special right to constitute structuring of European and itself as a committee of inquiry bilateral cooperation, and with the Kunduz Committee especially the implementation on Inquiry (which investigated of the new initiative intro- a German air attack in Afgha- duced by the EU heads of state nistan in 2009 that resulted in and government to deepen civilian casualties) and the cooperation in the field of EURO HAWK Committee of security and defence and to Inquiry (which examined a implement concrete measures controversial Bundeswehr (Permanent Structured Coope- drone project). ration, or PESCO).

9 Difficult questions often fea- ture on the Committee’s agenda. For example: what ­framework is provided by ­German security policy? What have been the effects of the updated Defence Policy Guide- lines? What form is recruit- ment taking following the Further progress is to be made suspension of compulsory on gearing the Bundeswehr’s military service? What can be internal structure to its mis­ done to make service in the sions abroad. The Committee armed forces more appealing therefore spends a great deal as a profession in general? of time engaging with the on- And how can service in the going process of restructuring military – and the inevitable and transforming the armed reassignments and frequent forces. Its focus is not only on relocations – be made more ensuring that soldiers are well family-friendly? trained and equipped when Then there is the plan govern- they are deployed; the ques- ing which military bases tion of how they are reintegra- should be retained and which ted into the Bundeswehr and closed. The use of training society on their return is areas is also regularly an issue, equally important – in parti­ for example when the inter- cular if they are suffering from ests of people living nearby post-traumatic stress. or environmental issues must

10 be considered. The role of the armed forces in society is an- other subject which features regularly on the Committee’s agenda, as does the balance between soldiers’ civil rights and military duties – a subject closely related to the concepts of “citizens in uniform” and “internal leadership”, which encapsulate the Bundeswehr’s Bundeswehr, and investigates system of values. potential violations of the fun- Particularly in the case of such damental rights of service per- issues which affect society as sonnel or infringements of the a whole, the Committee mem- principles of internal leader­ bers can build on the work of ship. The Commissioner pro- the Parliamentary Commis­ duces annual reports setting sioner for the Armed Forces. out his or her assessment of The Commissioner assists the the current state of the troops, Bundestag in exercising par­ and they are regularly discus- liamentary oversight over the sed by the Committee.

11 Wolfgang Hellmich, SPD Prof. h.c. Dr Chairman Karl A. Lamers, Executive, CDU/CSU b. 5 May 1958 Deputy Chairman in Welver-Meyerich; Lawyer, married; b. 12 Feb. 1951 three children. in Duisburg-Hamborn. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2012 since 1994

Committee members The 36 members of the Defence Committee

12 Ingo Gädechens, CDU/CSU CDU/CSU spokesman , Dr , on the Committee CDU/CSU CDU/CSU Former career Lawyer, Industrial engineer, service member, b. 7 Jan. 1958 b. 1 Aug. 1977 b. 30 July 1960 in Lüchow; in ; in Lübeck; married; unmarried. married. three children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2009 since 2009 since 2017

Henning Otte, , CDU/CSU , CDU/CSU CDU/CSU spokesman CDU/CSU Olympic on defence policy Electronic marketing cycling champion, Authorised legal officer, specialist, childcare worker, lawyer, b. 14 Mar. 1974 b. 19 Dec. 1967 b. 27 Oct. 1968 in ; in Stolberg, Harz; in ; married; married; married; two children. two children. four children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2009 since 2017 since 2005

13 , CDU/CSU Anita Schäfer, , Specialist in CDU/CSU CDU/CSU administrative law, Employee, Special needs teacher, b. 16 May 1961 b. 9 July 1951 b. 14 Oct. 1967 in Ober-Wöllstadt; in Saalstadt; in Lübz; married; unmarried. married. one child. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 1998 since 2009 since 2013

Bettina M. Wiesmann, Dr Karl-Heinz Brunner, , CDU/CSU SPD CDU/CSU Business consultant, Business administrator, Business administrator, b. 20 Oct. 1966 b. 14 Mar. 1953 b. 6 Sep. 1976 in ; in Munich; in Rinteln; married; married; unmarried. four children. two children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2017 since 2017 since 2013

14 Dr , SPD SPD spokesman on the Committee, SPD spokesman , on defence policy SPD Classical philologist, , Car mechanic, teacher, SPD b. 15 Jan. 1959 b. 1 Sep. 1968 Political scientist, in Koprivnica, in ; b. 22 June 1982 Croatia; married; in Landau; married; three children. married. three children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2013 since 2013 since 2005

Dirk Vöpel, Siemtje Möller, SPD SPD Self-employed , Teacher, businessman, SPD b. 20 July 1983 b. 29 May 1971 Employee, in Emden; in Oberhausen; b. 24 Mar. 1955 unmarried; divorced; in ; two children. one child. one child. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2017 since 2013 since 2013

15 Rüdiger Lucassen, AfD AfD spokesman on the Committee, Berengar Elsner AfD spokesman von Gronow, on defence policy AfD Business administrator, Sales manager, , former colonel, b. 7 Jan. 1978 AfD b. 19 Aug. 1951 in Bad Godesberg, Undertaker, in Dollerupholz; Bonn; b. 25 Dec. 1971 married; unmarried. in Northeim. two children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2017 since 2017 since 2017

Gerold Otten, , AfD AfD Former colonel, Dr , Former soldier, b. 7 Dec. 1955 FDP b. 30 Dec. 1988 in Lübberstedt; Political scientist, in ; married; b. 4 Feb. 1984 married. one child. in . Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2017 since 2017 since 2017

16 Dr Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Alexander Müller, FDP FDP FDP spokeswoman FDP spokesman Christian Sauter, on defence policy on the Committee FDP Journalist, IT specialist, Industrial engineer, b. 10 Mar. 1958 b. 17 July 1969 b. 11 Feb. 1980 in Düsseldorf; in Bendorf am Rhein; in Rinteln; married; married. unmarried. three children. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2017 since 2017 since 2017

Christine Buchholz, The Left Party Dr Alexander S. Neu, Education, social The Left Party sciences and religious Matthias Höhn, The Left Party studies specialist, The Left Party spokesman b. 2 Apr. 1971 Parliamentarian, on the Committee in ; b. 19 Aug. 1975 Political scientist, married; in Stolberg; b. 19 Mar. 1969 two children. civil partnership. in Harmonie, Eitorf. Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2009 since 2017 since 2013

17 Tobias Pflüger, The Left Party The Left Party spokesman on defence policy Political scientist, b. 1 Feb. 1965 in Stuttgart. Bundestag Member since 2017

Dr , Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens spokesman , on the Committee, , Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens Lawyer, spokesman on Student b. 30 Nov. 1969 defence policy b. 8 February 1985 in Berlin; Economist, in Legnica, Poland; married; b. 11 Jan. 1982 married; one child. three children. in . Bundestag Member Bundestag Member Bundestag Member since 2009 since 2009 since 2011

18 19 Information online

The Defence Committee www.bundestag.de/en/committees/a12

The Federal Ministry of Defence www.bmvg.de/en

The Bundeswehr www.bundeswehr.de

The Federal Foreign Office www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en

The Center for International Peace Operations www.zif-berlin.org/en

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development www.bmz.de/en

20 Contact details for the Committee Secretariat

Deutscher Bundestag Verteidigungsausschuss Platz der Republik 1 11011 Berlin Tel.: +49 30 227-32537 Fax: +49 30 227-36005 Email: [email protected]

21 Published by: German Bundestag, Public Relations Division Coordination: Robert Schönbrodt Texts: Georgia Rauer; revised by: Committees Directorate (p. 4 – 5), Secretariat of the Defence Committee (p. 6 – 21) Edited by: Marianne Wollenweber Translated by: Language Service of the German Bundestag, in cooperation with Emma Hardie Design: Marc Mendelson Bundestag eagle: Created by Professor Ludwig Gies, revised in 2008 by büro uebele Photos: p. 2 Deutscher Bundestag (DBT) / ​Linus Lintner Fotografie; p. 8–9, 10, 11, 19 DBT / ​Marc-Steffen Unger; p. 23 DBT / ​studio kohlmeier Portrait photos: p. 3, 12 DBT / ​Thomas Trutschel / ​photothek (Wolfgang Hell- mich); p. 12 DBT / ​Thomas Trutschel / ​photothek (Karl A. Lamers); p. 13 Rein- hard Brandl / ​Gerd Grimm (Reinhard Brandl); Ingo Gädechens / ​Jan Kopetzky (Ingo Gädechens); DBT / ​Stella von Saldern (Eckhard Gnodtke); DBT / ​Achim Melde (Florian Hahn); DBT / ​Julia Nowak (Jens Lehmann); / ​ Blume (Henning Otte); p. 14 Anita Schäfer / ​Harald Kröher (Anita Schäfer); Karin Strenz / ​Christian Stambor (Karin Strenz); DBT / ​Stella von Saldern (Oswin Veith); Kerstin Vieregge / ​Patrick Pantze (Kerstin Vieregge); Bettina M. ​ Wiesmann / ​Alexander Paul Englert (Bettina M. ​Wiesmann); DBT / ​Thomas Trutschel / ​photothek (Karl-Heinz Brunner); p. 15 SPD-Parteivorstand / ​Susie Knoll (Fritz Felgentreu); DBT / ​Julia Nowak (Thomas Hitschler); DBT / Achim Melde (Josip Juratovic); SPD-Parteivorstand / ​Susie Knoll (Siemtje Möller); SPD-Parteivorstand / ​Benno Kraehahn (Dirk Vöpel); SPD-Parteivorstand / ​ Benno Kraehahn (Gabi Weber); p. 16 DBT / ​Achim Melde (Berengar Elsner von Gronow); Jens Kestner (Jens Kestner); DBT / ​Julia Nowak (Rüdiger Lucas- sen); Jan Nolte / ​Hagen Schnauss (Jan Nolte); / ​Paul-Gerhard Loske (Gerold Otten); Dr Marcus Faber / ​Susanne Schmidt (Marcus Faber); p. 17 Alexander Müller / ​Uwe Dettmar (Alexander Müller); DBT / ​Thomas Trutschel / ​photothek (Christian Sauter); Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann / ​ Olaf Heine (Marie-Agnes Strack-​Zimmermann); Die Linke im Bundestag (); DIE LINKE. / ​Michael Breyer (Matthias Höhn); Die Linke im Bundestag (Alexander S. Neu); p. 18 Tobias Pflüger / ​Michael Breyer (Tobias Pflüger); DBT / Thomas Trutschel / photothek (Agnieska Brugger); DBT / ​Thomas Köhler / ​photothek (Katja Keul); DBT / ​Stella von Saldern (Tobias Lindner) Graphic: p. 7 Marc Mendelson Printed by: Druckhaus Waiblingen Remstal-Bote GmbH As at: January 2019 © Deutscher Bundestag, Berlin All rights reserved. This publication has been produced as part of the German Bundestag’s ­public relations activities. It is provided free of charge and is not intended for sale. It may not be used for election campaign purposes or utilised by parties or parliamentary groups in their own public relations activities. 23 The German Bundestag takes decisions on what are at times highly complex and controversial bills and parliamentary initiatives relating to the entire spectrum of policy fields. The committees play a central role in parliamentary deliberations. They are the forum where the Members thrash out compromises and draw on expert advice before submitting their reports and recommen­dations for decisions to be voted on by the Bundestag as a whole. www.bundestag.de/en/committees