US-German relations have returned to normal: Rau

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - President Johannes Rau said in an interview released Saturday that he sees German-US relations as "normalised," despite disagreements over the war in Iraq, describing cooperation between the two countries as "very, very close."
...

Regarding Iraq, Rau said despite Germans' disapproval of the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein, the nation could not close its eyes to Iraqis' postwar needs.
...

"I made up my mind about the question of a second term in office long ago, but I will announce it at the right time," Rau said.
Although Rau enjoys popularity among Germans, there has been discussion across the party spectrum about bringing a woman into the post.


http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/mon/jul28w22.htm

Because I thought the true executive of Germany was Gerhard Schroeder.

The German President has only a representive function, while the executive power lies in the hand of the Chancellor. Similar to the British Queen being the head of state but Tony Blair being the man in charge.

It is duty of the german president to sign bill into laws. He can refuse to sign a bill, which means it goes back to congress and has to voted on again (with the same majority rules as before). If he refuses to sign the same bill a third time, he is forced to resign.
I might be wrong on this, since it was at least 15 years ago, when this was discussed in school.

The "three times" is not quite correct, but you got the idea.

:kick:

Rau is head of state, Schroeder is head of Gouvernment (ranking 3rd in the state). If the President says something, you can be sure, that the chancellor will do it (otherwise the President wouldn't say it).

Rau greets foreign visitors, appoints ministers (on the request of the chancellor), federal judges and so on.

He can pardon felons and signs (or denies to do so) laws etc.



From the eng.bundespraesident.de page:
--snip
From the point of view of protocol, the Federal President as head of state occupies the leading position. He is the constitutional organ which represents the Federal Republic of Germany both at home and abroad. He does so by making the state - its existence, legitimacy, legality and unity - perceptible in all he does and in every public appearance. This highlights his role as a figure of integration and his monitoring function in his capacity as guardian of the law and the constitution. Furthermore the Federal President has fall-back powers which he can use if the parliamentary system of government is in a crisis situation.

The classic functions which the Federal President as head of state performs include:

• representing the Federal Republic of Germany at home and abroad (public appearances at state, social and cultural events, speeches, visits to the Länder and communities, state visits abroad, receiving foreign state visitors),
  
  
  
• representing the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of international law (Art. 59 (1) sentence 1 of the Basic Law), concluding treaties with foreign states (Art. 59 (1) sentence 2 of the Basic Law), accrediting (appointing) German diplomatic envoys and receiving (accepting the letter of accreditation of) foreign diplomats (Art. 59 (1) sentence 3 of the Basic Law).
  
  

His other important tasks include:

• proposing the Federal Chancellor for election (Art. 63 of the Basic Law), appointing and dismissing the Federal Chancellor (Art. 63 and 67 of the Basic Law) and the Federal Ministers (Art. 64 of the Basic Law), - dissolving the Bundestag (Art. 63 (4) sentence 3, Art. 68 of the Basic Law),
  
  
• promulgating (signing) and publicizing laws
  (Art. 82 of the Basic Law),
  
  
• appointing and dismissing federal judges, federal civil servants, commissioned and non-commissioned officers
  (Art. 60 (1) of the Basic Law),
  
  
• exercising the power to pardon on behalf of the Federation
  (Art. 60 (2) of the Basic Law).
  

--snap



You'll find further Information here :
http://eng.bundespraesident.de/frameset/index.jsp (Federal President)
http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/index.html (Bundestag lower house)
http://www.bundesrat.de/Englisch/index.html (Bundesrat upper house)
http://eng.bundesregierung.de/ (federal Gouvernment/ Chancellor)

On edit: I cited the same sources as Kellanved did. No need to duplicate it, so it was deleted.