To increase the number of military personnel, the German government will require men over the age of 18 to undergo medical examinations and fill out a competency questionnaire. However, military service remains voluntary. Parties in Germany’s ruling coalition have reached an agreement to create a new military service process that would require compulsory conscription for all men over the age of 18.
The plan would end the current exclusively voluntary model and require all men born after January 1, 2008 to report to the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), undergo medical examinations and complete a “motivation and competence” questionnaire.
However, the new conscription requirement does not lead to compulsory military service. The German Army will begin work with military service objectives that must be achieved by volunteer candidates. If the target is reached, the excess unit will be waived.
According to the agreed plan, if the number of volunteers is too low, the German Parliament (Bundestag) can later decide on a system of compulsory military conscription based on demand. This model would include a random selection process to fill vacant positions, but the details of how this distribution occurs have not yet been determined.
The text still needs to be passed through Parliament for approval.
Germany is trying to increase its forces
Germany suspended compulsory military service in 2011, and has since relied on volunteers to fill the ranks of the German army. Currently, 18-year-olds do not need to be drafted. However, Russian advances in Ukraine and rising tensions on the borders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have put pressure on the country to strengthen the operational capabilities of the armed forces.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has already indicated that Germany must be prepared for a possible war by 2029. This year alone, the German army opened a new military unit to protect the country’s vital infrastructure and opened its first brigade abroad since World War II.
But to achieve this goal, the armed forces need a larger number of personnel, which has sparked intense debate in the country. The goal announced by the government is to increase the number of active military personnel from the current 180,000 soldiers to more than 260,000, in addition to another 200,000 reserve soldiers.
In November 2024, the government of former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz approved a draft law requiring 18-year-old males to complete a questionnaire about their physical and health condition, in addition to indicating their willingness to serve in the German army. It was expected that this process would push more young people to serve in the army.
But as the then-proposed target of 203,000 active military personnel remained elusive, politicians raised concerns that the government’s plans would not be enough.
What changes?
The current agreement goes one step further by requiring all men born after January 1, 2008, to report to a military unit and undergo mandatory medical examinations. Completion of the “Motivation and Competence” questionnaire for service in the Armed Forces also remains necessary.
Pistorius intends for the proposed legislation to enter into force in early 2026. According to documents obtained by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, medical records will be needed to determine who can be called up from the German army in the event of war.
The main goal is to increase the number of young people who become reservists. However, in case of need, the demand will be filled not by attracting a lot of new recruits, but based on an assessment of who will be most able to serve.
Pistorius said on Monday it was a matter of assessing who is “really capable of acting in a defensive emergency and knowing exactly who is appropriate to call on.”
The model also provides incentives for those who volunteer to serve, such as better salaries, which should amount to around €2,600 (R$15,900) per month, and the possibility of extending the length of service. In addition, anyone who serves for at least 12 months will receive temporary soldier status and is thus entitled to other benefits, such as a stipend for a driver’s license.
According to excerpts of the plan obtained by the Welt newspaper, the Bundestag will decide by law to introduce compulsory military service on the basis of necessity, “particularly if the situation of defense policy or the situation of members of the armed forces requires it,” as stated in the text.
“If the number of conscripts in a given year exceeds the required number, a random selection process may be used as a last resort, after applying exemptions from military service and all other procedures. There will be no automatic activation of compulsory military service.”
Open questions
In addition to the details of how the vacancy lottery will be conducted, other questions remain open. Among them, it is not specified what would happen if a recruit presented himself, was selected for service, but refused to bear arms.
It was also not specified how the rule would apply to women. German law requires that conscription of females can only be imposed in the event of an amendment to the constitution, which can only be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Bundestag.
gq/cn (DPA, OTS)
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