The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesverfassungsschutz, BfV) and the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND) are secret services. Both operate covertly — the former domestically, the latter abroad. They have long complained that they have fewer powers than their counterparts in other countries.
To better defend Germany against internal and external threats, the cabinet approved a draft bill on Wednesday. Parliamentary approval is still pending; the MPs' summer recess ends in early September. However, it is considered a mere formality that the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, with the government majority of conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) and center-left Social Democrats (SPD), will give it the green light.
Germany's largest intelligence reform since World War II
A new era for the German intelligence services is then expected to begin in early 2027. Their scope of operations would extend far beyond their current powers. It would then be possible, for example, to counter a cyberattack by neutralizing enemy IT systems.What is cyber warfare? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
