Residents’ council staff office in Bundestag has been disbanded. This was confirmed by the Bundestag government upon request German Editorial Network (RND). At the start of the legislative term, Parliament President Julia Klöckner (CDU) said she was critical of the staff department.
SPD Bundestag member Helge Lindh regretted the move. The previous staff position was “undoubtedly suitable from a technical and organizational point of view” to convene further citizen councils, Lindh told the newspaper. RND and called for joint implementation proposals for the next council.
Lindh was referring to the federal government’s current coalition agreement. It said: “In addition to representative democracy, we are continuing the format of dialogical participation such as the civil society citizens’ council in the German Bundestag.”
The traffic light coalition has introduced its first citizens’ meeting
The traffic light government is launching the first citizens’ meeting on nutrition issues in 2023. This should provide as representative a picture as possible of society. Therefore, the criteria are geographic origin, gender, age, community size, and education level. The committee is supported by experts from the fields of science and practice.
First and foremost, 160 participants developed the idea of offering free lunches to all children in child care centers and schools. It is also recommended that VAT on fruit and vegetables be abolished. Labeling of products by governments with the aim of protecting climate, animal welfare and health aspects is also recommended. However, no decision has been taken at this time.
“Germany’s largest assembly of citizens is a democratically elected parliament,” said the Parliament President Klockner in May World on Sunday said. The democratic legitimacy of the Bundestag is far greater than any other format of dialogical participation. The impression that must be avoided is that the importance of Parliament and freely elected MPs is being undermined, he said.
