Constitutional reform passes last legislative hurdle days before outgoing parliament’s term expires

Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.21-101658/https://www.ft.com/content/bf9dde37-2dc8-44df-b5f5-ef5dece888f6

On Friday, the constitutional reform secured the support of more than two-thirds of the seats in the Bundesrat, the upper house that represents Germany’s 16 federal states.

The changes, which were approved by the Bundestag earlier this week, loosen the country’s constitutional borrowing restrictions to allow unlimited defence spending and create a special €500bn, 12-year vehicle to modernise the country’s infrastructure.

    • federal reverse@feddit.orgMEnglish
      23·
      3 days ago

      They are separate.

      • Bundestag – parliament with representatives of individual election districts
      • Bundesrat — council of federate state representatives
    • LordOsslor@lemmy.mlEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      No, they are separate: The Bundestag (the more prominent and more widely known institution) is a parliament on elected the federal level. The Bundesrat is made up of representatives sent by the individual state governments. The Bundesrat acts a a check to the Bundestag, as it has to approve laws proposed by the Bundestag before they can take effect.

      I might hav missed some details but that’s what I can remember right now.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.orgEnglish
        5·
        3 days ago

        The Bundesrat acts a a check to the Bundestag, as it has to approve laws proposed by the Bundestag before they can take effect.

        Only specific laws, they don’t have a say for most day-to-day politics.

        • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          I mean they’re the states, they (and the municipalities) are doing pretty much all of the day-to-day stuff. You’re paying taxes to your state of residence, not the federation, the school system is run by your state, not the federation, the vast majority of roads are municipal or state roads, all boots-on-the-ground police work is done by state police or at least according to state law (aside from the borders and the train networks), the list goes on and on.

          The short version is that the Bundestag passes laws that only affect the federation on its own, when both federation and states are affected it’s Bundestag+Bundesrat, and when only states are affected neither decide, the state parliaments do, either separately for themselves or they enter treaties with each other. E.g. broadcasting law is uniform throughout Germany, but not federal law it’s an interstate treaty that all states are part of the federation has zero say in broadcasting.