Welcome to the State Parliament
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WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT EN CONTENTS FOREWORD → 04 The State of Baden-Württemberg The State Parliament of Baden- → 06 The Parliament Building Würt temberg is at the very heart of → 08 Legislative, Voting and Supervisory Powers our democratic body politic. It is in → 10 Budgetary Powers Parliament that political issues of → 11 Right of Petition current concern are addressed and debated before binding → 12 The Electoral System decisions are taken which affect many different areas of our → 13 Votes and Percentages lives. This booklet provides an introduction to the functions → 14 Members of Parliament and their 70 Constituencies and organisation of the most important constitutional body → 17 Allocation of Seats in the Debating Chamber in the Federal State of Baden- Württemberg. → 20 Composition of the Parliament Parliamentary Pay → 21 The Duties of Members of Parliament What decision-making powers does the State Parliament → 22 Plenary Sessions have? Who sits in the Parliament? When does it meet? This → 23 The Parliamentary Agenda, Away from the Floor booklet not only provides clear and concise answers to these → 24 The President and her Deputy, and other important questions, it is also intended to encour- The Executive Committee age readers to find out more about the work of Members of → 25 The Parliamentary Groups Parliament. Democracy needs active and informed citizens. → 26 The Committees → 28 The State Government With the refurbishment of the State Parliament building and → 30 The State Parliament Administration the addition of the new Civic and Media Centre our parlia- → 32 Visitors ment has not only been modernised, it is now also much more → 33 Public Relations open, friendly and inviting. → 34 Further Information (Selection) I will be tireless and passionate in working to ensure that our State Parliament is transparent and connects with the public it serves. Publisher The President of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg I welcome you to our State Parliament and am delighted in Editor your interest, whether you have come to attend the public Press and Public Relations Baden-Württemberg State Parliament gallery, to meet Members of Parliament, or to take part in a Design seminar or other event. I hope that you will take away two unger+ kreative strategen GmbH, www.ungerplus.de things from your visit: a deeper understanding of the workings Translation of representative democracy itself and a keener critical David Allison awareness of political processes. I am absolutely committed Photography to building confidence in the work of our Parliament. Fotolia (Manuel Schönfeld, Sebastian Duda, visivasnc), Jan Potente, LTBW, Marcus Ebener, Staatsministerium Address of publisher and editor Haus des Landtags, Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 3, 70173 Stuttgart Tel.: 0711 2063-268, Fax: 0711 2063-299 E-Mail: [email protected], www.landtag-bw.de Muhterem Aras MP Copy date President of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg September 2019 © 2019, Landtag von Baden-Württemberg 02 WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT 03 Front-runner in many fields THE STATE OF BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG Baden-Württemberg is situated at the very heart of Europe. The State borders on France to the west, and to Switzer- land and – across Lake Constance – to Austria in the south. It is the third largest of the country‘s sixteen states in terms of area (35,751 km2) and population (11.02 million inhabitants). universities, 6 universities of education, 23 universities of applied science, the Cooperative State University, 8 art Germany‘s southwest is one of the leading economic regions schools and colleges of music, the Academy of Perform- in the country and in Europe. The region is home to industry ing Arts, the Film Academy and Pop Academy and more giants and thousands of small and medium-sized enterpris- than 25 recognised private and ecclesiastical universi- es, many of which are market leaders in their product fields. ties. Baden-Württemberg also has a state-of-the-art re- Today, more than (29.2 %) one quarter of industrial revenues in search infrastructure and is home to many leading re- the region are generated by Baden-Württemberg‘s key au- search institutions, such as the Max Planck Society or the tomotive engineering industry and its large supplier network, German Aerospace Centre in Stuttgart. closely followed by mechanical and plant engineering (around 20 per cent) and the metal and electrical industries Baden-Württemberg has not only produced numerous (each accounting for around 7 per cent). Equally significant inventors and entrepreneurs, it is also the land of thinkers are the chemical, pharmaceutical and optical industries. and poets - the home of Schiller, Hölderlin, Hegel, Mörike, Baden-Württemberg typically enjoys above-average rates Hesse, Heidegger and many more famous names. of growth, high levels of labour productivity and consistently low unemployment. The State of Baden-Württemberg was created over 65 years ago. Following a referendum held in 1951, the States Southwest Germany is also at the forefront of innovation. of Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Ho- More homespun ingenuity is invested in products and henzollern merged to form the single cohesive State of processes in southwest Germany than anywhere else in Baden-Württemberg on 25 April 1952. Europe. Baden-Württemberg invests 5.1 per cent of its gross domestic product in research and development, The new constitution was adopted on 19 November 1953. well ahead of all the EU‘s 97 regions by a large margin. Stuttgart is the seat of the State Government, home to The fruits of these investments are evident in the number the State Parliament and the state‘s political hub. of patents – more relative to the size of the population than anywhere else – registered in Baden-Württemberg. The first President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss, paid tribute to the political and economic This success would be unthinkable without the many success of the newly emerged State of Baden-Württem- qualified minds in the southwest. The region is home to a berg when he pithily described the state as a “model of broad spectrum of institutions of higher learning: 9 general German possibilities“. 04 WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT 05 THE STATE COAT OF ARMS Baden-Württemberg‘s coat of arms eloquently expresses the state‘s unity in diversity. The escutcheon bears the ancient coat of arms of the Hohenstaufen duchy of Swabia. The three black lions on a gold field recall the period of the high Middle Ages between 1079 and 1268 when the histo- ry of the holy Roman Empire was dominated by the Staufer dynasty. The supporters are the stag of Württemberg and the heraldic griffin of Baden. The circlet represents the former constituent territories of the state: the historic coat of arms of eastern Franconia (the silver-tipped “Franconian rake”), Hohenzollern (white and black quartered escutcheon), Baden (red bars on a gold field), Württemberg (three black stag antlers on a gold field), the Palatinate (golden lion in black) and anterior Austria (red-white- red bordered escutcheon). Space for encounters THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING The world‘s first television tower is a piece of contemporary and design standards on fire protection, accessibility, classic architecture. Constructed in 1956, its timeless aes- lighting, architectural acoustics, building services, thermal thetic is very much part of Stuttgart‘s identity and one of insulation, security technology and energy efficiency. the city‘s main features. The same goes for the State Par- liament building which was opened in 1961 as the first gen- The fossils embedded in the great slate wall in the en- uine new parliament building to be constructed in the 20th trance hall are from the area around Holzmaden at the century on the European continent. foot of the Swabian Alb. The triptychon “Paraphrases on the national colours“ was painted by the Stuttgart-based artist The cube-shaped building (12m high and built on an area Otto Herbert Hajek. The lobby hall on the main floor – of 55 x 55m) is constructed around the Debating Chamber. graced by an equestrian statue by the Italian sculptor Following its general refurbishment (between autumn 2014 Marino Marini – offers an ideal arena for meetings and for- and spring 2016) the Debating Chamber now has a glass mal events. façade which faces the rose garden. Grouped around the Debating Chamber on the main and first floors are smaller The “Haus der Abgeordneten” on the other side of Konrad- committee rooms and the offices of the parliamentary Adenauer Straße has been in use since 1987 and is linked to groups, the State Government and the State Parliament the Parliament building by a tunnel. The eight-storey build- Administration. ing houses offices, meeting rooms and rooms for the use of the parliamentary groups. The State Parliament also The structural alteration work included both technical and uses the Queen Olga Building in Stauffenbergstraße and energy measures. The building has been modernised and other buildings in Ulrichstraße and Urbanstraße. now complies with all the applicable building, technical 06 WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT WELCOME TO THE STATE PARLIAMENT 07 PARLIAMENTARY INITIATIVES The State Parliament has a number of initiative and control instruments available to it in the form of parliamentary motions and questions which enable it to examine the work of the government. Key functions LEGISLATIVE, VOTING Draft law AND SUPERVISORY POWERS Draft laws are introduced by MPs and must be signed by at least eight MPs or a parliamentary group. Draft legislation is debated in two or three readings in the Chamber. Bills pass into law by majority vote, with the Making laws is the most important task of any democratical- exception of constitutional amendments which require a two thirds ly elected parliament. The State Parliament exercises legis- majority.