The German cabinet approves new conscription system
The German cabinet approved on Wednesday a legal amendment submitted by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to implement a new conscription system.
Pistorius, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, has said he wants all young men and women who turn 18 next year to fill out a digital questionnaire declaring their willingness and ability to perform military service.
“The new military service law will allow us to re-establish the registration system for military service, which has not existed since compulsory military service was suspended in 2011,” Pistorius said before the decision was made.
“If tomorrow there is a defense incident, we won’t know who we can call up because there is no complete database,” he added.
“With the suspension of military service, the system of registration and monitoring of military service has been destroyed, even though the state is legally obligated to do so,” Pistorius said.
Germany suspended compulsory military service in 2011 by a decision of former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg of the Bavarian Christian Social Union, after 55 years of compulsory service.
This effectively abolished military and civil service, while at the same time dissolving most of the infrastructure for compulsory service.
However, the compulsory military service law stipulates that this service will resume for men if the German parliament declares a state of emergency or defense in the country, although there have been no concrete preparations for this possibility since 2911.
Concerns about the shortage of personnel in the German army have been growing recently, with the number of soldiers as of last June falling to less than 180,000 men and women.
In addition, there are about 60,000 obligatory reservists (i.e. those officially bound to service).
As the security situation has changed, Germany’s needs to meet NATO’s goals have become quite different.
“Germany’s long-term contribution to the alliance’s defense requires a defense force of around 460,000 men and women… A large part of this, around 260,000, should come from the reserves,” Pistorius said.
