 It comes to the conclusion that the treaty does not create a European federal state (which would invalidate the Basic Law and require a referendum), that the structural democratic deficit of the EU institutions cannot be resolved in an association of sovereign national states (since it would break the principle of the equality of states), and that the substance of German state authority is protected.The Bundestag held an extraordinary session on 26 August 2009 to examine a draft law on strengthening parliamentary oversight.On 8 September, the bill was passed by 446 votes to 46 with 2 abstentions.