New Bundestag Committees formed - Key chairs announced

The first committees of the new legislative period were constituted in the Bundestag on Wednesday. A number of chairs went to candidates from the CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens and Left Party - however, the AfD candidate for the chair of the Budget Committee did not receive a majority, as the Bundestag announced. The party has the right to nominate candidates for a total of six committees.

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The new chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee is CDU politician Armin Laschet, while Thomas Röwekamp from the CDU will chair the Defense Committee in future. Outgoing SPD leader Saskia Esken will now chair the Education and Family Affairs Committee. Green politician Anton Hofreiter was re-elected head of the Europe Committee. Left-wing politician Lorenz Gösta Beutin was elected to chair the Environment Committee.

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The AfD had the right to propose members for the Budget Committee, but its candidate, Ulrike Schielke-Ziesing, failed to secure a majority. The Budget Committee nevertheless convened, with the longest-serving member of the committee, Klaus-Peter Willsch (CDU), initially acting as chair.

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The essential legislative work takes place in the committees. There are a total of 24 specialist committees. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group has the right to nominate chairpersons for eight committees, the AfD for six, the SPD for five, the Greens for three and the Left Party for two.

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Also elected by Wednesday afternoon were, among others, the chairs of the Committee on Transport, the Committee on Health, the Committee on Human Rights and the Committee on Agriculture.

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