When the Bundestag and the Bundesrat disagree on a law, Article 77 of the Basic Law provides for a joint committee. The Vermittlungsausschuss, the mediation committee, has 32 members. Sixteen come from the Bundestag, and each of the sixteen states has one seat. The members from the states are not bound by instructions from their governments. The sessions are confidential. The Bundestag describes what happens once the committee is called: Es beginnt die Suche nach Kompromissen, um das Gesetz „zu retten“. The search for compromises begins, to “save” the law. The result is an Einigungsvorschlag, a proposal for agreement, and the chambers then decide on it. The committee is needed most when the two chambers have different majorities. It was called 102 times between 2002 and 2005, and three times between 2013 and 2017.