Röspel first became a member of the Bundestag in the 1998 German federal election.[2] Throughout his time in parliament, he served on the Committee for Education, Research and Technology Assessment.[3] In this capacity, he is his parliamentary group's rapporteur on health research. From 1998 until 2005, he was also a member of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
In addition to his committee assignments, Röspel was part of the German Parliamentary Friendship Group with the Baltic States.