Katharina Dröge heads the parliamentary group together with Britta Haßelmann.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The greatly enlarged group of the Greens in the Bundestag has formed anew. Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge were elected to the top of the parliamentary group last week, replacing Katrin Göring-Eckard and Anton Hofreiter. Now the vice-bosses have also been elected, the chairmen of the committees headed by the Greens have been nominated, the committees have been appointed and the political spokespersons named.
Defense politician Agnieszka Brugger and domestic politician Konstantin von Notz will remain deputy chairmen of the 118 Green MPs in this legislative period. Maria Klein-Schmeink, Lisa Paus and Julia Verlinden are new vice-presidents.
Anton Hofreiter, Harald Ebner, Kai Gehring and Tabea Rößner are to lead the Bundestag committees elected by the Greens: Europe, the environment, education and research as well as digital. The election of the chairperson takes place in the committees on Wednesday.
It was expected that ex-parliamentary group leader Hofreiter would become committee chairman. Originally the party left was even supposed to become a minister.
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He was traded as a possible transport minister. In the end, Hofreiter was left empty-handed when it came to distributing the cabinet posts. The minister was ex-party leader Cem Özdemir, a Swabian Realo whose parents have a migration history.
Criticism of the election of the committees
The election of the committees causes a stir behind the scenes. Critics call it a big mistake – but not only by the Greens – to give the AfD access to the interior committee. The right-wing national party thus heads the committee, which is responsible for parliamentary control of the security authorities. However, the party itself is partially monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
In the first round, the Greens pulled the European Committee, which Greens parliamentary group leader Haßelmann justified with the implementation of the planned EU climate package, the issue of flight and asylum and a common foreign policy.
The former group leader actually wanted to become a minister, but is now in the second row.
(Photo: dpa)
The chief posts of the committees are assigned according to the size of the parliamentary groups. This happens in several rounds, whereby the largest fraction is always allowed to access, then the second largest, the third largest and so on. This is followed by further rounds following the same pattern.
Before the Greens, the SPD and the Union were still on the train in the first round, after the Greens the FDP. None of the groups opted for the Home Affairs Committee, with the largest opposition group, the Union, traditionally choosing the Committee on Budgets.
Also not elected the transport committee
The fact that the Greens did not elect the Interior Committee is now a part of horror within the party because it falls to the AfD. Before the elections, the Greens had also gotten to know the Ministry of the Interior. It is now all the more incomprehensible for critics that they do not occupy the chair of the Interior Committee.
Obviously, it is said in the parliamentary group, the Hofreiter, who went empty-handed when filling the ministerial posts, was to be offered a replacement post – and he apparently wanted the European Committee.
However, it is also viewed critically that the Greens did not decide in favor of the Transport Committee – although the Greens originally wanted to occupy precisely this ministry and had to listen to a lot of criticism for having dispensed with the key department.
Former Federal Minister Jürgen Trittin will be the foreign policy spokesman in the new legislative period, replacing Omid Nouripour, who wants to become party chairman. Dieter Janecek will be the economic policy spokesman. He will succeed the new parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge.
Sven-Christian Kindler remains budget policy spokesman, Frank Bsirske, ex-head of the Verdi union and newly elected to parliament, will be the labor and social policy spokesman for the Green parliamentary group.
More: Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge: Green parliamentary group receives dual leadership