Overview
- Defence Minister Boris Pistorius ruled out a lottery to select conscripts, calling it arbitrary, and reiterated selection based on suitability and motivation.
- From mid‑2027, entire year groups are to be medically mustered to establish who would be available in a defence emergency.
- The government’s draft, slated to take effect in early 2026, would contact all 18‑year‑olds about volunteering, with men required to return a questionnaire as part of muster.
- If voluntary numbers fall short, compulsory call‑ups of men could be activated, contingent on separate decisions by the government and the Bundestag.
- Talks resume next week ahead of expert hearings from November 10, as SPD figure Michael Ebling urges an explicit service obligation that includes women and civilian roles, and polling shows broad opposition to a lottery.