weeklyproceedings in Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag

weeklyproceedings in Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag

In the halls of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament, petitions submitted in 2022 continue to be actively processed. The Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag has been working on these petitions, with records showing amendments made as recently as 2024 and beyond [1]. This trend is also observed in the European Parliament's Petitions Committee (PETI), with petitions from 2022 and 2024 still being deliberated as late as June 2025 [2].

However, specific data on the total number of petitions submitted to the German Bundestag's Petitions Committee in 2022 compared to previous years remains elusive. The available information primarily focuses on document activity in the European Parliament's Petitions Committee rather than providing a comprehensive summary or comparative statistics for the Bundestag [3]. For a precise understanding of the petition trends and exact statistics, official Bundestag publications or an annual report from the Petitions Committee would be the primary sources.

Among the issues being addressed by these petitions, health and social matters have been the most prevalent. One-third of the petitions were submitted online via the Petitions Portal on the internet [4]. Topics ranged from COVID-19 vaccination mandates, medical care, ME/CFS patients, genocide of the Yazidis, maternity protection, nuclear power plants, and supporting the freedom movement in Iran.

In other parliamentary news, the Pharmaceuticals Shortage Combat and Supply Improvement Act (ALBVVG) is being discussed in the Bundestag to address medicine shortages. The act plans to relax pricing rules for children's medicines and antibiotics, allow temporary price increases, and strengthen Europe as a production location for pharmaceuticals [5].

The federal government has also presented a bill to streamline and expedite planning and approval procedures for expanding key railway lines and road projects [6]. Additionally, the Act on the Further Development of Skilled Worker Immigration will allow skilled workers to exercise any qualified employment in non-regulated professions, regardless of their degree [7].

The Vocational Training Act aims to promote vocational training in line with the times, including better support for young people in finding and starting an apprenticeship, and further education funding simplification and development [8]. The coalition factions are calling for a memorial for the Jehovah's Witnesses persecuted and murdered in National Socialism in Europe, to be erected at the historic site in the Berlin Tiergarten [9].

The ban on characteristic flavors is being extended to heated tobacco products, but not electronic cigarettes [10]. A draft bill is being adopted to amend the Wine Law, aiming to issue uniform regulations on application, approval, payment, control, and sanctions at the federal level [11]. The bill aims to enable more traffic to be handled by rail in the future, reducing congestion and bottlenecks that hinder economic development [12].

The Act on the Further Development of Skilled Worker Immigration will introduce a chance card, allowing people without an employment contract to come to Germany [13]. To ensure sufficient LNG can be landed, regasified, and transported in Germany, the federal government has presented a draft bill to amend the LNG Acceleration Act [14].

The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) will receive additional information rights, including vis-à-vis manufacturers and hospital pharmacies, to install an early warning system that can detect impending supply shortages [15]. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union now requires each member state to create a strategy plan for the use of financial resources, which must be approved by the EU Commission [16].

In other developments, the Bundestag will debate a bill to amend the Tobacco Products Act, implementing EU law, which will require heated tobacco products to have combined text-image warnings and an information message [17]. Most of the officers were deployed in EU missions within the framework of the "Common Security and Defence Policy" (CSDP) [18].

Finally, it's worth noting that in 2022, the Lobby Register, where all lobbyists must register if they make contact with the Bundestag or the Federal Government, was introduced [19]. A coalition draft bill is being proposed to strengthen the Lobby Register and close gaps. The bill aims to expedite the construction of necessary infrastructure for distributing landed gas volumes, with additional acceleration planned for specific gas pipelines crucial for offloading gas from floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), particularly in the Baltic Sea projects [20].

[1] https://www.bundestag.de/ [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ [3] https://www.bundestag.de/ [4] https://www.bundestag.de/ [5] https://www.bundestag.de/ [6] https://www.bundestag.de/ [7] https://www.bundestag.de/ [8] https://www.bundestag.de/ [9] https://www.bundestag.de/ [10] https://www.bundestag.de/ [11] https://www.bundestag.de/ [12] https://www.bundestag.de/ [13] https://www.bundestag.de/ [14] https://www.bundestag.de/ [15] https://www.bundestag.de/ [16] https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/ [17] https://www.bundestag.de/ [18] https://www.bundeswehr.de/ [19] https://www.bundestag.de/ [20] https://www.bundestag.de/

1. In the world of science, research on chronic diseases and medical-conditions like ME/CFS continues to be a priority.
2. Online platforms for education-and-self-development, such as Coursera or Udemy, offer courses on health-and-wellness and personal-growth as well as career-development in various fields.
3. Policy-and-legislation surrounding CBD products and their usage in medicinal treatments is still being debated by governments worldwide.
4. The field of policy-and-legislation also encompasses laws concerning car-accidents, traffic rules, speed limits, and vehicle safety standards.
5. Politics and policy-making often intertwine, affecting everything from general-news and crime-and-justice to job-search practices and unemployment rates.
6. One significant policy-change could be the Pharmaceuticals Shortage Combat and Supply Improvement Act, which aims to combat drug shortages in Germany.
7. The act could potentially affect the economies of companies dealing with health-and-wellness products and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
8. Accidents, both vehicular and industrial, often lead to policy-and-legislation changes to ensure safety and prevent future incidents.
9. Fires, whether natural or man-made, necessitate emergency responses and public evacuations, sometimes leading to the drafting of new policies and legislation.
10. In a broader context, learning and skills-training are crucial aspects of personal-growth and career-development, often facilitated through online courses, workshops, or seminars.
11. Sports encompass numerous disciplines, such as football (NFL, soccer, WNBA, baseball, hockey, golf, basketball, and more), racing, and mixed-martial-arts, providing opportunities for entertainment, competition, and personal growth.
12. Sports-betting is a growing industry, with betting platforms offering odds on sports events, potentially impacting the economies of various sports industries.
13. Analysis and debates about sports performance, strategies, and player statistics often appear in general-news and sports-analysis outlets.
14. Auto-racing, such as Formula 1 grand-prix, NASCAR, and IndyCar, are popular sports providing excitement and opportunities for collaboration between automakers, sponsors, and teams.
15. Horse-racing, tennis, and even NCAAs football and basketball are other sports with significant followings and economies, with betting, sponsorship, and viewership playing crucial roles.
16. Advocacy organizations actively campaign for policy-changes in areas like climate-change, environmental protection, and animal welfare, which can lead to policy-and-legislation in these areas.
17. The petitioning process in the German Bundestag and the European Parliament continues to be an essential avenue for citizen participation in policy-making, allowing voices to be heard on issues like chronic-diseases, education-and-self-development, personal-growth, career-development, policy-and-legislation, and more.
18. The introduction of the Lobby Register in 2022 allows for greater transparency in the interactions between lobbyists and the Bundestag or the Federal Government.
19. The streamlining and expediting of planning and approval processes for railway lines and road projects is a politically relevant issue, affecting commuters, businesses, and economies.
20. The Act on the Further Development of Skilled Worker Immigration aims to attract and retain skilled workers in non-regulated professions, potentially impacting the job-market and labor-force demographics.
21. The extension of the ban on characteristic flavors to heated tobacco products but not electronic cigarettes highlights the nuances and complexities of policy-making in the realm of health-and-wellness and consumer-protection.

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