Overview

• Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul dropped his ministerial reservation, clearing the way for Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to present the unchanged draft to the Cabinet on Wednesday at the Defence Ministry.
• The proposal launches a voluntary, better‑paid service to attract recruits, with all 18‑year‑olds contacted from 2026 and a questionnaire mandatory for men but optional for women.
• From 2028, medical screening becomes compulsory for 18‑year‑old men to build a nationwide picture of fitness for service.
• The plan aims to move toward NATO expectations of roughly 260,000 active troops and about 200,000 reservists, implying a need for around 80,000 additional active soldiers.
• CDU/CSU leaders seek legally binding annual milestones and an automatic shift to compulsory service if targets are missed, while the SPD insists on starting with voluntariness and Kanzler Friedrich Merz cites capacity limits as reason for a phased approach.