The German government has drafted a bill to significantly expand the powers of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), citing growing threats to national and European security, primarily from Russia, as well as risks from international terrorism and hostile cyber activity. The document contains 139 paragraphs — more than twice as many as the current BND law.
The need to review the intelligence mandate was publicly announced in the fall of 2024. At the time, BND head Bruno Kahl, together with the heads of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Military Counterintelligence Service, addressed the Bundestag, calling on lawmakers to give intelligence “more operational space to maneuver” in light of Russian threats.
For the first time, the bill allows the BND to go beyond classical intelligence and analytical activities and to carry out limited active measures abroad, including sabotage, provided the National Security Council officially declares a “special intelligence situation with a systemic threat.” Such a decision must be approved by the Bundestag Parliamentary Control Committee with a two-thirds majority.
The document also significantly expands the BND’s cyber powers. The agency will have the right to conduct retaliatory cyberattacks and to protect critical infrastructure, including through cyber and electronic countermeasures against unmanned systems. Broader use of artificial intelligence is foreseen for analyzing large datasets, including facial recognition, access to geolocation and transport registries, and tools for covert access to digital devices.
A separate section concerns human intelligence operations. The bill permits operations that go beyond the legislation of the host country, including entry into premises or vehicles. In exceptional cases, recruitment of individuals aged 16 and older as sources of critically important information is allowed.
Additionally, rules for handling intelligence data are being changed: the maximum retention period is extended from 10 to 15 years, and the requirement to automatically delete information about minors in counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases is removed.
The proposed reform reflects a deeper shift in Germany’s security policy amid prolonged confrontation with Russia. Berlin expects that expanding the BND’s mandate will improve the speed of response to crisis situations. In the medium term, the initiative could serve as a model for similar reforms in other European Union countries.
