In its penultimate plenary session before the summer break, the Bundestag set a record.

Parliament Vice President Aydan Özoguz (SPD) declared the session, which began on Thursday at 9 a.m., to be closed at 1:58 a.m. on Friday morning.

The longest session of the current legislative period ended at 0.23 a.m. in May.

Late at night, however, the deputies made a number of important decisions.

This paved the way for the increased use of coal-fired power plants.

The session was also lengthened by the fact that the AfD forced a mutton jump around half past one to check the quorum in parliament.

MPs want to take a closer look at the end of the Afghanistan mission

During the night, the Bundestag set up a committee of inquiry into the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan by the Bundeswehr and its allies.

The deputies accepted a corresponding motion that had been tabled by the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP as well as by the CDU/CSU.

The investigation will focus on the events that led to the dramatic evacuation campaign in August last year after the radical Islamic Taliban took power.

According to the decision, the committee should clarify “how the situation assessments and decisions by representatives of federal authorities regarding the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr came about”.

The central question is whether German government agencies and authorities did not recognize the explosive nature of the situation in good time and ignored warnings - and whether the evacuation action for the staff of the German embassy and German citizens as well as the protection of local staff was initiated too late.

Cooperation with foreign intelligence services and at the EU and NATO level will also be examined.

The committee of inquiry should then make recommendations "whether and to what extent conclusions should be drawn from the subject of the investigation" for future deployments of the Bundeswehr and the work of German security authorities.

The period of investigation extends only to the period from the end of February 2020 to the end of September 2021 - i.e. to the final phase of the approximately 20 years of service in the Hindu Kush.

On Friday afternoon, the Bundestag is also to set up a commission of inquiry on "lessons learned" from the entire Afghanistan mission for future missions.

This application is also supported by the traffic light parties and the Union.

The commission is to present its results and recommendations after the 2024 summer break.

Obstacles in the procurement system of the Bundeswehr should be removed

The Bundestag also ensured that the Bundeswehr will be able to obtain the necessary equipment more easily in the future.

He passed an easing of procurement rules.

In this way, the responsible awarding authorities should be able to issue orders more quickly.

The regulation in the "Bundeswehr Procurement Acceleration Act" is initially limited to three and a half years, but it can be extended beyond December 31, 2025.

Among other things, it is planned that several so-called lots, i.e. partial orders, can be awarded together under certain conditions.

In addition, the joint procurement of several EU countries should be made easier.

In such cases, the group of bidders for an order can be limited to EU companies in the future.

The procurement law of the Bundeswehr has long been considered bureaucratic, cumbersome and in need of reform.

Additional pressure for a new regulation was recently created by the resolution of the special fund for the army in the amount of 100 billion euros.