Bundesrat

The Bundesrat is Germany's federal council, the upper legislative chamber through which the country's 16 states exercise a formal check on federal law. Its 69 votes are allocated to the states by population, and its members are not directly elected: they are serving state Minister-Presidents and ministers, appointed by their state governments rather than by voters. This makes it structurally distinct from the Bundestag, Germany's directly elected lower house, and from the unrelated Swiss Federal Council, which is Switzerland's collective head of state and government rather than a chamber of Parliament.

The Bundesrat's role as the states' veto and amendment point makes it a recurring gatekeeper for federal legislation with cross-state administrative consequences. EU regulations such as the AI Act apply directly across member states, but enforcement bodies and penalties are Left to each one to designate, which is why a chamber representing German states, rather than the EU itself, is the body naming inspectors and complaint-handling authorities for the Act's employment provisions.