Weekly updates from the German Parliament (Bundestag)

In the heart of Europe, Germany continues to shape its legal landscape, focusing on data protection, vocational training, and construction reforms.

Data Protection

The German federal government is currently debating a draft bill to amend the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), aiming to strengthen data protection and enforce it more effectively. As of mid-2025, there is no publicly available, detailed final status update specifically about this new draft bill. However, related developments and critiques around German data protection laws and the implementation of EU data regulations are ongoing.

Key provisions possibly anticipated or discussed around the BDSG and data protection in Germany include data erasure rights, data correction, and situations where data processing restrictions apply instead of deletion. Employer surveillance and employee data protection under the BDSG face strict conditions, with the use of detectives for employee investigations only permissible based on reasonable initial suspicion grounded in concrete, objective evidence.

The German Data Protection Conference (DSK) has issued opinions critiquing draft laws related to implementing the EU Data Act in Germany, signaling ongoing engagement with EU regulations but also pointing out conflicts and areas needing clarification between German drafts and EU rules.

Vocational Training

The federal government is introducing a draft bill in the Bundestag for the 29th amendment to the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG), aiming to make the funding more flexible and adapt it to real study conditions. The Training Report 2024 shows that the training market is slowly recovering, with around 500,000 young people starting training in 2023, three percent more than in 2022. However, the numbers are still below the level before the Corona pandemic.

To strengthen vocational education and promote digital procedures, a draft bill by the federal government aims to establish a new procedure to determine and certify individual vocational skills acquired independently of a vocational training certificate. Last year, Germany and France signed an agreement on cross-border vocational training, addressing aspects of federal legislation and requiring approval in the form of a law.

Construction Reforms

Construction completion rates will be reported on a quarterly basis, enabling more timely monitoring of construction activity in the future. The Bundestag is debating the federal government's bill to amend the Building Statistics Act, aiming to improve statistical surveys of construction activity, collect data on an annual basis, and reduce the burden of compliance for builders.

The federal government also wants to amend the forced auction law to prevent the misuse of derelict properties. The Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (BEG IV) contains a whole bundle of measures from various areas, including the storage periods for booking records being shortened from ten to eight years, the introduction of a power of attorney database for tax advisors, and the digitization of operating cost statements.

In addition, the number of municipal partnerships between German cities and communities, particularly with the Global South, has increased in recent years, and the traffic light factions are introducing a motion to better connect municipalities and federal states with their counterparts in other countries.

For the most current status or full text of any draft amendments, checking official German government or Bundestag legislative tracking resources as of late July 2025 would be recommended.

The German industry is focusing on strengthening data protection and enforcing it more effectively, as seen in the ongoing debates about amending the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
As of mid-2025, a detailed final status update about the new draft bill for the BDSG is not publicly available.
Related developments and critiques around German data protection laws and the implementation of EU data regulations continue to surface.
Key provisions possible in the BDSG include data erasure rights, data correction, and cases where data processing restrictions apply instead of deletion.
Employer surveillance under the BDSG is subject to strict conditions, with the use of detectives for employee investigations only permissible based on reasonable initial suspicion.
The German Data Protection Conference (DSK) has issued opinions critiquing draft laws related to implementing the EU Data Act in Germany.
The federal government is introducing a draft bill in the Bundestag for the 29th amendment to the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) to make funding more flexible.
The Training Report 2024 shows that the training market is slowly recovering, with around 500,000 young people starting training in 2023.
To strengthen vocational education and promote digital procedures, a draft bill aims to establish a new procedure for certifying individual vocational skills.
Germany and France signed an agreement on cross-border vocational training, addressing aspects of federal legislation and requiring approval in the form of a law.
Construction completion rates will now be reported quarterly for better monitoring of construction activity.
The Bundestag is debating a bill to improve statistical surveys of construction activity, collect data on an annual basis, and reduce the burden of compliance for builders.
The federal government wants to amend the forced auction law to prevent misuse of derelict properties.
The Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (BEG IV) contains measures like shortening storage periods for booking records and introducing a power of attorney database for tax advisors.
The number of municipal partnerships between German cities and communities, particularly with the Global South, has increased recently.
The traffic light factions are introducing a motion to better connect municipalities and federal states with their counterparts in other countries.
The sports sector, including football, soccer, baseball, hockey, sports betting, basketball, racing, American football, tennis, sports analysis, weather forecasting, and mixed martial arts, are nonexempt from policy-and-legislation updates in Germany.
To keep track of the most current status or full text of any draft amendments, checking official German government or Bundestag legislative tracking resources as of late July 2025 is recommended.