Questions and debates
The plenary is where the Bundestag's work becomes public. This sheet explains the instruments MPs use to question the government and force debates, and lists the debates involving Steffen Bilger that have been verified against the Bundestag's own reports, with what he said and how others replied.
The instruments
The Bundestag's rules of procedure give individual members and parliamentary groups several ways to put questions to the government and to put subjects on the agenda.
MPs submit short oral questions in advance; a member of the government answers in the plenary, and the questioner may ask supplementary questions. Answers are very often given by Parliamentary State Secretaries, the post Bilger held at the transport ministry from 2018 to 2021.
In sitting weeks a federal minister, and at intervals the chancellor, reports briefly on current business and then takes questions from MPs of all groups. As minister, Bilger now takes part in the rotation.
A parliamentary group can demand a debate on a current subject at short notice. Speeches are limited to five minutes. Oppositions use it to force ministers to respond, as the CDU/CSU did on nuclear power in April 2023, with Bilger as the opening speaker.
Individual MPs can submit written questions each month; groups can table minor and major interpellations (Kleine and Große Anfragen) that the government must answer in writing.
Disputes over the agenda, speaking times or the order of business are settled by plenary votes on procedural motions, usually argued by the groups' parliamentary managers. Bilger made several such interventions in 2025.
The record
Search or filter by subject. Each entry links to the Bundestag's report or official record. Quotations are given in German with an English translation.
His first speech as minister, the same day he took the oath. He linked rail managers' bonuses to targets — „Wer die Ziele erreicht, wird belohnt. Wer sie verfehlt, nicht." ("Whoever meets the targets is rewarded. Whoever misses them is not.", translation) — and announced a law allowing the Autobahn company to borrow. Replies from the AfD, Greens and Left are summarised below.
Defended cutting most budget debates from 90 to 75 minutes: the AfD had tabled only one amendment, three-quarters of the year had passed, and the Bundestag was sitting three weeks in a row. Adopted against the AfD's votes.
Moved and justified the CDU/CSU motion. The debate about the SPD's nominee had „zum Teil jedes Maß verloren" ("in part lost all sense of proportion", translation). Passed with CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens and Left; AfD against.
Spoke in the first reading of the CDU/CSU motion (printed paper 20/9322) demanding that the transport minister keep his promise not to ban combustion engines running on climate-neutral fuels. Referred to the transport committee; the Bundestag report does not summarise his speech.
Opened the topical debate requested by the CDU/CSU four days after the last reactors shut down: a „Sieg der ideologischen Sturheit über die praktische Vernunft" ("victory of ideological stubbornness over practical reason"). Demanded operation until at least the end of 2024 and warned of 30 million tonnes of extra CO₂. SPD, Greens and FDP rejected the Union's case.
Spoke for two CDU/CSU motions: „Die Ampel streitet, die Bundesregierung ist sich nicht einig und keiner weiß, wofür Deutschland eigentlich steht" ("The traffic-light coalition is quarrelling, the government is divided and nobody knows what Germany actually stands for", translation), and the government „muss die schlechte Regulierung verhindern". Both motions were rejected on 21 September 2023.
Criticised the transfer of climate policy from the environment to the economics ministry as the „Verzwergung eines einst stolzen Hauses" ("dwarfing of a once proud ministry"). Minister Steffi Lemke and the SPD's Carsten Träger defended the cross-departmental approach.
Section C — one debate in close-up
The first reading of the 2027 transport budget shows the shape of a full plenary exchange: the minister sets out his case, and speakers from each group answer in turn.
Said "Deutschland kann Infrastruktur" ("Germany can do infrastructure"), according to the Bundestag's report. In return for the investment, the government expected more punctuality, better processes and fewer disruptions, which should be reflected in rail managers' bonuses. Rail lines closed for months for renovation „muss … danach spürbar besser funktionieren" ("must work noticeably better afterwards"). He announced that the coalition had agreed a draft law to let the Autobahn company borrow, calling it „ein Paradigmenwechsel in der Modernisierung und Finanzierung des Straßenbaus" ("a paradigm shift in the modernisation and financing of road building"). He put transport investment until 2030 at about €170 billion.
„Mit dieser Koalition wird … nichts besser" ("Nothing gets better with this coalition"). Wanted more money for Autobahn repairs and criticised the balance of about €11 billion for roads against €20 billion for rail.
Argued that the budget had roughly halved from about €50 billion to €26 billion, that there was not enough money for investment and that no new rail projects could start the following year.
Called the change of minister a „politische Farce" ("political farce") and saw „weder transparente noch nachhaltige Finanzierungskonzepte" ("neither transparent nor sustainable financing concepts"), noting that only €10.2 billion of investment was in the core budget.
Praised investment at a „Rekordniveau" ("record level").
„Wir können Infrastruktur" ("We can do infrastructure").
The full speech and its figures are discussed on the speeches page and the budget itself on infrastructure investment.
Limits of this record
Bilger has been an MP since 2009 and will have spoken many more times than the entries above. The Bundestag publishes every speech in its stenographic records and in the documentation system DIP, but this site lists only debates whose content has been checked against the Bundestag's reports or official minutes. In particular:
Entries will be added as they are verified. For an overview of his parliamentary roles, see parliamentary work; for his procedural role in 2025–2026, the First Parliamentary Secretary sheet.