Germany Wants to Give Its Spies Big New Powers — Here's What's Going On
On August 12, 2026, Germany's government approved a draft law that would give the country's spy agencies a major expansion in power. The law would lift many of the restrictions that have been in place since World War II on Germany's two main intelligence services: the BND, which gathers intelligence abroad, and the BfV, which focuses on threats inside Germany. The law runs over 700 pages long and still needs approval from parliament before it takes effect. The Guardian
Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt called the reform a security "revolution" and said it was "historic." The draft law largely follows a wishlist that the intelligence agencies themselves drew up, suggesting it reflects what the agencies want to do rather than just what politicians are directing them to do.
The Federal Interior Ministry published its legislative page for the law on July 6, 2026. The ministry describes the reform's guiding principle as the operational strengthening of the intelligence services — in other words, making them more capable of acting on their own. It calls the law a fundamental overhaul of the rules governing these agencies. BMI
The most eye-catching parts of the law deal with offensive operations in cyberspace and physical sabotage. Right now, spy agencies mostly gather information. This law would let German spies go on the offensive — breaking into hostile computer systems to manipulate or delete data, an approach known as "hack-back." Think of it as the difference between installing a lock on your door and going to disable a burglar's tools. A new body called the Independent Control Council would need to approve these aggressive operations, acting as a kind of judge reviewing the most sensitive actions. The law also includes provisions for altering instructions on how weapons are built and making arms harmless during production — essentially authorizing targeted sabotage of weapons manufacturing. The Guardian; Reuters
The BND, which turned 70 in 2026, is currently led by Martin Jäger, a former ambassador to Ukraine. His appointment brought firsthand diplomatic experience with Eastern Europe into the agency's leadership. The government has pointed to what it calls "hybrid threats" — activities that mix conventional warfare with hidden tactics like cyber-attacks, propaganda, and sabotage — as the main reason for expanding the agencies' powers. Reuters reported in February 2026 that Berlin wanted to give its spy agencies broader authority to counter these threats.
This push for new powers comes after several security incidents on German soil. In late July 2026, a man drove a car into a crowd at Berlin's annual Pride parade, killing people. The attacker was a German-born Islamist who was already known to authorities. In early August 2026, a drone carrying explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport, which is an important hub for military transport. The Guardian
The reform also touches a long-standing rule that limits the BND. German law currently bans the BND from spying on European Union countries, their citizens, or EU institutions, except in specific cases. This rule came from 2016 reforms that tightened oversight after the BND was caught collecting large amounts of data on communications — both foreign and domestic — without proper controls. The restriction has long frustrated the agency. Reuters Whether the new 700-page draft law changes this EU restriction in any meaningful way is not yet clear from the available materials.
The broader context here is that this reform is the most significant rewrite of what the BND and BfV are allowed to do in a generation. Allowing hack-back operations puts Germany in a small group of countries — alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel — that officially permit offensive cyber operations by their intelligence services. The weapons-sabotage provisions are even more unusual. They blur the line between gathering intelligence and actively interfering in the physical world, which resembles Soviet-era sabotage practices more than the typical Western approach to intelligence.
The oversight setup will be the key thing to watch. The proposed Independent Control Council, if it genuinely reviews operations before they happen, could set an example for how democracies authorize aggressive intelligence actions. But its independence, who sits on it, and how fast it can work will determine whether it acts as a real check or just stamps approvals. The 700-page text gives parliament a lot of detail to examine, but the history of intelligence reform in Germany suggests that security incidents tend to shorten parliamentary debate rather than deepen it.
The wider backdrop here is a Germany that has spent the past decade gradually loosening the post-World War II restraints that once made its intelligence culture different from its allies'. The 2016 reforms tightened oversight after a scandal; the 2026 reform loosens the rules after a crisis. Whether the pendulum has swung too far, or not far enough, will depend on outcomes that cannot yet be observed.
