Amidst ongoing debates over how to expand the country’s military, Germany’s governing parliamentary groups agreed on Thursday to revise the country’s rules for military service, including by introducing a mandatory military fitness test for all 17-year-old males.
The two coalition partners, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), had been at odds over how to ensure that Germany’s military reaches its promised numbers by 2035. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had previously toppled a compromise.
Negotiators from the governing CDU and SPD have now agreed that all 17-year-old males will have a mandatory physical examination to determine their suitability for military service, beginning in mid-2027.
Military service of up to 11 months will remain voluntary as long as a sufficient number of people sign up.
As the largest economy in Europe, Germany has committed to strengthening its military force to approximately 260,000 soldiers by 2035, in addition to 200,000 reservists who will primarily be drawn from a pool of volunteers. Currently, the German armed forces have only around 183,000 soldiers, including nearly 11,000 volunteers.
With the US increasingly focused on China, and Europe facing mounting security threats from Russia, Europe’s NATO members have pledged to boost their militaries and increase defence spending. Germany is considered pivotal for that effort.
Pistorius said at a press conference on Thursday that “Europe looks to Germany, not only in terms of money, armament, and procurement, but also in terms of personnel.”
The Defence Ministry will report on the strength of the military every six months and determine conscription needs.
Conscription could become mandatory if the military cannot attract enough volunteers. The military aims to have 20,000 volunteers next year and 23,000 in 2027.
Parliament will decide on how to select conscripts, for example, via a lottery-based system, when necessary.
The model that policymakers are currently proposing is similar to that of Denmark, where conscription is mandatory, but only a small number of conscripts is called up via lottery due to the high number of volunteers.
Negotiators stated that the primary objective is to make voluntary service more appealing, with a reformed programme that includes drone training, a monthly gross salary of €2,600, and potential financial support for a driver’s licence if volunteers commit to more than a year of service.
“Other European countries, particularly in the north, show that the principle of voluntary participation works when combined with attractiveness,” Pistorius said.
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