Germany’s New Federal Police Act Takes Effect With Surveillance, Deportation Powers

Photo: Sebastian Rittau, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (file photo of a police vehicle at Berlin Südkreuz station).

Germany’s new Federal Police Act took effect on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, giving the Bundespolizei, the federal force that guards borders, railways and airports, new powers including source telecommunications surveillance, drone defense and random checks in weapons-ban zones at stations. The law was published in the Federal Law Gazette on Oct. 27 and replaces a statute that dates largely from 1994.

What the Federal Police Act changes

According to the government bill described by the Bundestag, the new powers include collecting subscriber, usage and traffic data; source telecommunications surveillance, which allows police to intercept communications on a device before they are encrypted; mobile sensors for video and audio recording; technical tools against dangerous drones; and identifying and locating mobile phone SIM cards and devices. Officers can also issue reporting orders and bans on entering certain areas.

The law allows “random checks without cause” in weapons- and knife-ban zones at train stations and on trains, and expands the use of facial recognition, Deutschlandfunk reported. For foreign nationals who are legally required to leave Germany, the federal police can now apply to a court directly for deportation detention or for custody to secure departure, rather than relying on other authorities. The bill also brings data rules in line with Constitutional Court rulings, including one from April 20, 2016, and with an EU data protection directive.

By the numbers: a vote that had to be repeated

Because the states had to consent, the law required the backing of a majority of all Bundestag members, not just of those present. The Bundestag first passed it on July 10, 2026, but the formal finding that the required majority had been reached was not made, so the final vote had to be repeated with at least 316 yes votes. On Sept. 25, lawmakers approved it in a roll-call vote by 322 to 134, with 118 abstentions, the Bundestag said. The Bundesrat, the chamber of the states, gave its consent the same day, according to its official record.

The margin was narrow: 322 yes votes is 6 more than the 316 required, a TBR calculation. The CDU/CSU and SPD, which together hold 328 seats, voted in favor in July, while the Greens and the Left voted against and the AfD abstained. The law was signed on Oct. 22 and, under Article 14, took effect the day after publication, according to the official legal database.

Earlier attempts had stalled. A planned reform failed in the Bundesrat in July 2021 after some states raised concerns about overlap between federal and state police powers, and a draft by the previous “traffic light” coalition was never completed, Deutschlandfunk reported.

What supporters and critics said

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) told the Bundestag the challenges had changed “massively” since 1994, when there were no cyberattacks or drone threats, and said the 55,000 federal police officers “simply deserve our trust.” SPD lawmaker Sonja Eichwede said the force needed “appropriate, modern and legally sound powers” against people smuggling and human trafficking.

Opposition parties criticized the bill from different directions in the first reading in December 2025. Green lawmaker Irene Mihalic called it disappointing and objected that earlier civil-liberties proposals, such as receipts for people stopped in police checks and mandatory body-camera use when force is applied, had been dropped. The Left’s Clara Bünger called it a “step toward authoritarianism and a surveillance state.” The AfD’s Markus Matzerath said the bill contained positive changes but that the conditions for police to seek detention were too strict.

The Left had also filed its own motion calling for the removal of powers for checks and searches without cause, automatic license-plate recognition and tools such as IMSI catchers and state spyware, and for an identification requirement for officers, according to the Bundestag. That motion was referred to the interior committee alongside the government bill. The ruling CDU/CSU’s Josef Oster said dropping the identification requirement and stop receipts reflected a “fundamental change in German domestic policy,” adding: “We trust our police officers and we do not distrust them.”

The law arrives as security and migration remain central issues in German politics, with the AfD leading national surveys; see our analysis of the latest German polls. For Germany’s defense spending debate, see our report on which NATO members are on track for 5%.

Sources

• German Bundestag: debate and votes on the Federal Police Act
• Federal Law Gazette I No. 318 (Oct. 27, 2026)
• Gesetze im Internet: Bundespolizeigesetz

Additional sources

• Bundesrat: proceedings on the Federal Police Act
• Deutschlandfunk: Green light for the new Federal Police Act