Overview

• The CDU/CSU insists the law set explicit, legally binding thresholds for reactivating general conscription, calling the issue existential.
• Union leaders postponed the first Bundestag reading and are pressing for a defined tipping point and regular public reporting on recruitment progress.
• The Pistorius draft prioritizes voluntary short-term service from 2026 with a conditional fallback to compulsory call-ups but includes no automatic number or date.
• Recruitment and infrastructure trail ambitions, with 12,400 volunteers this year, a 20,000 target next year, and roughly 40,000 new housing places still to be built.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz backs the approach in principle yet warns voluntariness may not suffice, as Union figures label the plan too vague.