Parliamentary parties - General information

At the centre of policy-making

According to the German Constitution, members of parliament are "not bound by orders and instructions" and are "subject only to their conscience". This means they can make all decisions by themselves. Despite this, they join with other members of parliament of their party to form groups with the aim of achieving more together.

The parliamentary party is a forum that collects the individual opinions of the members of parliament and the viewpoints of the specialised spokesperson for the particular fields and combines them in a uniform resolution. Decisions, resolutions and opinions for committee work and plenary debates are also jointly prepared here. In addition, the parliamentary parties develop long-term political concepts for their work.

A parliamentary party must have at least five members. It is then entitled to submit draft legislation or minor or major interpellations and propose people for specific positions (e.g. committee chairpersons). The rights and conditions for this are outlined in the Parliamentary Party Law.