Germany's new Federal Police Act takes effect, with drone defence and phone surveillance powers

Germany's Federal Police (Bundespolizei) have new powers from Wednesday. The Act to Modernise the Federal Police Act took effect on 28 October 2026, the federal government said that day. It replaces rules that date largely from 1994, a time when, as the government put it, there were neither chat groups nor social media.

The aim is to give the more than 50,000 federal police officers powers that match today's threats. The force is responsible for security at Germany's borders, at sea, at airports and on the railways.

What the Federal Police may now do

For the first time, the law regulates the use of drones and defence against them. The Federal Police may fly their own drones for surveillance and reconnaissance, for example at major events or along railway lines that are hard to reach. Where an unmanned system on land, in the air or on water poses a danger, the new section 39 lets them use suitable means, including weapons, against the system, its control unit or its control link if other measures would be futile or much more difficult. The Bundesrat gives electromagnetic pulses, GPS and physical intervention as examples.

• preventive telecommunications surveillance, including source telecommunications surveillance (Quellen-TKÜ)
• reporting requirements, and bans on entering certain areas for up to three months, according to the Bundesrat for example against known violent offenders travelling by rail or people who have repeatedly committed offences at stations
• suspicionless checks in weapons and knife ban zones on the railways
• applying to a court for detention pending deportation of people required to leave the country who hold no toleration status (Duldung) and whom officers encounter in their area of responsibility
• a trustworthiness check (Vertrauenswürdigkeitsprüfung) on everyone the force recruits, to protect it from infiltration by extremists

According to the Bundestag, the law also brings the rules on data obtained through covert measures into line with a Federal Constitutional Court ruling of 20 April 2016, and implements data protection requirements of an EU directive of April 2016.

Tightened in the Bundestag

The Bundestag's home affairs committee amended the government bill on 8 July 2026 at the request of the coalition groups. A new section on automated danger detection (automatisierte Erkennung von Gefahren) allows the Federal Police to use automated applications that recognise patterns of movement and objects, and locations, that point to a danger. Biometric data that would allow particular people to be identified may not be processed for this. A power for real-time biometric detection (biometrische Detektion in Echtzeit) was also added. The Bundesrat describes the effect this way: with video technology and artificial intelligence, the force may analyse movement patterns that suggest an offence could be committed, for example when someone draws a knife.

At the second reading on 10 July, the CDU/CSU and SPD voted for the bill, the Greens and the Left Party against, and the AfD abstained. That did not settle it. The bill's enacting formula provides for a majority of the Bundestag's members, at least 316 yes votes, and that majority had not been established on 10 July as the rules require. According to the plenary record, the Bundestag therefore repeated the final vote by roll call on 25 September: 322 members voted yes, 134 no and 118 abstained. A few hours later the Bundesrat, the chamber of the states, gave its approval. Our explainer How the Bundesrat works sets out the states' role in federal legislation.

Alexander Throm (CDU/CSU) and Sebastian Fiedler (SPD) said in written statements for the record that in their legal view a simple majority would have been enough. They backed the repeat vote all the same, to finish the procedure without further delay and to remove any doubt that it had been conducted properly.

Support and criticism at the hearing

According to the Bundestag's report, most of the experts at the January hearing backed the bill, but some rejected it firmly. Kai Dittmann of the Society for Civil Rights (Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte) said, according to the Bundestag's report, that the bill went beyond constitutional and human rights limits, pointing to a high risk of abuse and discrimination, for example in suspicionless checks in weapons ban zones. Lea Voigt of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein) saw room for improvement. She said safeguards such as identification of officers, receipts for checks and body cameras were missing, although the previous coalition's draft had included them.

The Federal Police Commissioner, Uli Grötsch, called the new tasks sensible and necessary, but said the force could only carry them out with enough staff and adequate technical equipment. Andreas Roßkopf of the police union GdP welcomed the new powers but said a significant increase in the staff and equipment budget would be needed.

What comes next

Alongside the bill, on 10 July the Bundestag adopted a resolution, with the votes of the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens and with the AfD and the Left abstaining. It calls on the government to have the Federal Police determine, under Article 27 of EU Regulation 2021/782 on rail passenger rights, what level of security should apply at stations and on trains, and to agree the measures with railway companies and station operators. Further security concepts are to be developed for high-crime stations and local public transport, based on research into the security situation and fear of crime.