Overview

• The cabinet-approved draft would send questionnaires to all 18-year-olds starting next year, with only men obliged to reply and attend medical screening if summoned.
• From 2028, a Musterung becomes generally mandatory for all 18-year-old men, while women may volunteer for service under the same process.
• Any compulsory service for women would require a two-thirds constitutional amendment to Article 12a, which currently restricts coercive armed service to men and bars forcing women to serve with weapons.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a return to conscription may be needed if volunteers fall short and indicated women should then be included, drawing support for debate from SPD’s Siemtje Möller and firm rejection from Die Linke.
• The BSW denounced the reform effort as costly and militarizing, citing a Finance Ministry study on multi-billion-euro expenses, as the Bundeswehr’s strength has fallen below 180,000 with about 60,000 active reservists.