Allied Intelligence — 2026-10-15

Bundestag Interior Committee Holds Expert Hearing on Historic BND Intelligence Reform Bill Granting Hack-Back and Sabotage Powers

BLUFGermany's coalition is likely to pass the BND reform bill by year-end, but expert testimony flagging clear unconstitutionality means the sabotage and hack-back provisions will emerge narrower than drafted.

The Bundestag Interior Committee scheduled an expert hearing for Monday, October 12, in Berlin on the government's intelligence law reform bill (Drucksachen 21/7868, 21/8295) and a separate AfD motion on BND operational capabilities (21/8114) 1. The full chamber referred both to the committee after a first reading on September 24 2. There, Chancellery Minister Nina Warken called the bill the largest overhaul of intelligence law in German history and said it permits actions such as shutting down state hackers' servers 2. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the BfV must be able to defuse or manipulate explosives, while opposition speakers from AfD and Die Linke criticized the expanded powers 2. Netzpolitik.org's hearing report quotes an expert calling a provision the most obviously unconstitutional he had seen 3.

Analysis
The Bundestag will likely pass the intelligence law reform bill in a third-reading vote by December 31, 2026. Confidence is high, because a coalition majority defended the bill on the floor, the Interior Committee already holds it, and no coalition defector is visible. The obstacle is legal rather than parliamentary. An expert at the hearing called one provision the most obviously unconstitutional he had seen, a charge absent from earlier coverage. Three converging primary sources support this, though none yet shows the committee's amendment intentions. The coalition may rewrite the sabotage and intervention clauses, adding committee rounds and pushing the vote into the year's last sitting weeks. The charge may instead be an outlier, and the bill could pass largely intact, leaving courts to decide later. BND and BfV planners should expect narrower authorities than drafted, possibly with judicial pre-approval, and the Independent Control Council should prepare for that duty.

3 sources

Anhörung zur Reform des Nachrichtendienstrechts - Deutscher Bundestag
Gesetzentwurf zur Reform des Nachrichtendienstrechts beraten - Bundestag
Anhörung zur Geheimdienstreform: "Ich habe noch nie eine Vorschrift gesehen, die so offensichtlich verfassungswidrig ist" - netzpolitik.org