Overview

• The 28-member Enquete-Kommission, comprising 14 MPs and 14 experts, convened in Berlin to launch a two-year review of Germany’s pandemic response.
• CDU lawmaker Franziska Hoppermann was chosen to lead the body, setting a "understand, not judge" tone for evaluating decisions, outcomes and lessons.
• The mandate spans preparedness, crisis governance, legal oversight, public‑health measures, economic support and social impacts, with party seats allocated Union five, SPD three, AfD three, Greens two, Linke one.
• Meetings will be mostly non-public with the option for hearings and reports; the next session is scheduled for September 22, and interim findings and later publication of minutes are possible.
• A final report is due by June 30, 2027, as disputes continue over calls from Greens and the Left for a separate mask‑procurement inquiry and criticism of AfD appointee Kay‑Uwe Ziegler, who was convicted over COVID aid fraud.