In 2019, the federal government founded SPRIND, the Federal Agency for Leap Innovation, in Leipzig. Its task was to find and fund research ideas with the potential for leap innovation. Soon the agency was held back by the rules of public administration. According to its director, the Federal Court of Audit made sure that, contrary to the plan, all its hires fell under the Besserstellungsverbot, a rule that bars pay above public sector levels. In May 2021, Chancellor Merkel criticized the structures created for the agency as allowing too little movement. In November 2023, the Bundestag passed a law to free it, the SPRIND-Freiheitsgesetz, the SPRIND Freedom Act. The agency for leaps needed its own law before it could move.
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Campaigns for Confidence
In 2005, twenty-five media companies ran a national campaign called Du bist Deutschland, you are Germany. It aimed to spark a movement for more confidence and personal initiative. Its lines included Du bist das Wunder von Deutschland, you are the miracle of Germany. Critics called it a feel-good campaign. In the same year, the federal government and German industry launched Deutschland – Land der Ideen, Germany, land of ideas. Twenty years later, on 3 November 2025, the federal government started another national campaign, Das kann Deutschland, Germany can do this. One of its stated aims was Zuversicht für den Wandel stiften, to create confidence for change.
We Ask About the Risks First
In May 2025, Germany created a new federal ministry for digital affairs and state modernization. Its minister is Karsten Wildberger, the former head of the electronics retailer MediaMarktSaturn. In a dpa interview in January 2026, he described the national habit: Wir stellen oft zuerst die Frage nach den Risiken. (We often ask about the risks first.) He said he wished Germany would rediscover the enthusiasm for the new and for technology that had always defined it. In the same interview he spoke about the coming digital ID on the phone. He said he would keep his physical ID card: Es ist immer gut, noch ein Backup zu haben. (It is always good to have a backup.)
The Health Offices and the Fax
In January 2021, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers declared it erforderlich, necessary, that every health office use the contact tracing software SORMAS by the end of February. The German County Association replied to the health minister that only about 80 health offices were using it, and that it considered the goal weder für erstrebenswert, noch derzeit erreichbar, neither desirable nor achievable at present. The association wrote that health offices had been forced to communicate with the Robert Koch Institute by fax. A government report to a Bundestag committee in February 2021 gave a higher figure, 202 of 376 health offices. The two figures come from different sources and dates. According to the health ministry, the federal government could only play a supporting role, because the decision lies with the states and the health offices.
The Online Access Act
The Onlinezugangsgesetz, the Online Access Act of 14 August 2017, required the federal and state governments to offer their administrative services online by the end of 2022 at the latest. More than 6,000 services were grouped into 575 packages. In August 2023, eight months after the deadline, 127 of the 575 were available across the whole country. In 2022, the Federal Court of Audit criticized the responsible ministry for having glossed over the progress in its reports. A second law, OZG 2.0, came into force on 24 July 2024. It set a new deadline. Services for business are now to be fully digital by 2028.
When the Frame Itself Changed
Until 2006, the Basic Law allowed the federal government to pass Rahmengesetze, framework laws. They did not regulate an area completely. The states had to fill in the frame, and the federal law could go into detail only in exceptional cases. The universities and the civil service were regulated this way. Changing this system took years. In 2003, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat set up a joint commission under Edmund Stoiber and Franz Müntefering. On 17 December 2004, it failed over the question of who controls education. The coalition agreement of 2005 restarted the reform on the basis of the commission’s work. The Bundestag passed it on 30 June 2006 with 428 votes to 162, and the Bundesrat on 7 July 2006. On 1 September 2006, the federal power to pass framework laws was abolished.
Final and Binding
A German administrative decision, such as a building permit, can usually be challenged by an objection within one month. After that, the decision becomes bestandskräftig. The word has no exact English equivalent. It means that the decision now binds both the authority and the person it is addressed to, and that it can no longer be challenged with ordinary legal remedies. The authority may still withdraw or revoke it in certain cases, and the case can be reopened on application. For decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court, the law states the binding effect directly: they bind the constitutional bodies of the federation and the states, and all courts and authorities.
The Integration Course
A new immigrant in Germany may be required to take an Integrationskurs, an integration course. The Residence Act states its principle in three words: integration wird gefördert und gefordert, is supported and required. The course has a fixed structure. It consists of a language course of 600 lessons and an orientation course of 100 lessons on the legal order, culture and history of Germany. The orientation course ends with a test called Leben in Deutschland, life in Germany. The courses were introduced in 2005. The orientation course was 45 lessons at first. It was extended to 60 lessons in 2012 and to 100 in 2016.
Five Years to Switch Over
On 10 April 2018, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the rules for valuing property for the German property tax in the former West German states were unconstitutional. It did not stop them at once. It gave the legislature until the end of 2019 to pass new rules. After that, the old rules could still apply für weitere fünf Jahre ab der Verkündung, längstens aber bis zum 31. Dezember 2024, for five more years from promulgation, but no later than 31 December 2024. The court explained that revaluing all property needed an extraordinary effort in time and staff. About 36 million properties had to be revalued. The new tax has been levied since 1 January 2025.
The Coalition Agreement
A German coalition agreement cannot be enforced in court. The first one in the Federal Republic, in 1961, had fewer than ten pages. The agreement of 2018 had 175 pages, and the one of 2021 had 177. On 5 May 2025, CDU, CSU and SPD signed their agreement of 144 pages in Berlin. Before that, the SPD had put it to a vote of its members, and 84.6 percent of those who voted approved. In October 2025, the coalition argued about a pension package. The SPD leader Lars Klingbeil said that Labor Minister Bärbel Bas had implemented was im Koalitionsvertrag steht, what is in the coalition agreement. He said it was the job of the CDU/CSU group leader to make sure dass seine Fraktion das verabredete Paket mitträgt, that his group supports the agreed package. The Bundestag passed it on 5 December 2025.