Government plans extensive expansion of powers for BND and Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

The new, graduated powers will be linked to likewise new threat categories such as "significantly in need of surveillance" or "particularly significantly in need of surveillance." According to the government's depiction, this is intended to enable a more differentiated response to different threat situations. Critics, however, see this as an erosion of previously existing rule-of-law thresholds.

New threat categories as the basis

In the future, minors aged 16 and over are also to be deployable as informants in the investigation of the most serious threats. Previously, the use of juvenile sources was more restricted. The new regulation is part of a comprehensive reform package developed at the Federal Ministry of the Interior that is still subject to interministerial coordination.

A newly created independent body is to serve as the central control organ. It is to assume the tasks of the existing G10 Commission for the authorization of surveillance measures as well as the data protection supervision of operational activities. The reform thus bundles several oversight functions in a single entity.

Oversight through a new body

According to the draft, the judicial reservation (Richtervorbehalt) for the use of source telecommunications surveillance (Quellen-TKÜ) is to remain unchanged. The involvement of the Federal Constitutional Court in overseeing the services also remains in place. Observers interpret this as a signal that, despite the expansion of operational means, constitutional safeguards are to be preserved.

The reform is part of a series of European initiatives aimed at equipping intelligence services with expanded responsibilities in the face of hybrid threats, cyberattacks, and foreign disinformation. Comparable rules are currently being negotiated at the EU level in Brussels. From the federal government's perspective, national go-it-alone approaches would be less effective.

Criticism from data protection advocates and civil society

Data protection commissioners and civil society organizations are already expressing concerns prior to the official presentation of the draft. They fear a creeping erosion of the principle of proportionality and warn of an expansion of surveillance beyond the actual target group. The planned involvement of minors as informants is also viewed critically.

For justification, the federal government points to changed threat situations caused by state and non-state actors that can no longer be addressed by classical intelligence-gathering alone. According to its depiction, the new tools are to be deployed exclusively against significant threats to Germany's internal security and foreign relations.

It remains unclear when the draft will go into cabinet coordination and be submitted to the Bundestag for deliberation. The Bundesrat would also have to be involved in the further process. Until then, changes to individual powers may still be made.

The discussion comes amid growing concern about foreign influence on public discourse in Germany. According to the services' assessment, manipulative campaigns have increased in recent years, for instance in the context of elections and in the dissemination of conspiracy-theoretical narratives.