Germany plans to allow intelligence agencies to carry out operations abroad

The German government plans to expand the powers of national intelligence agencies, allowing them in exceptional cases to conduct active countermeasures against threats inside the country and abroad. The corresponding draft law is to be considered by the federal government.

As Süddeutsche Zeitung writes, the reform will affect the Federal Intelligence Service BND and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution BfV. Currently, their functions are mainly limited to collecting, verifying, and analyzing information.

The new rules will allow the intelligence agencies to intervene independently if they identify a threat that the police or other state authorities cannot neutralize as effectively. This refers, in particular, to cyberattacks, sabotage, espionage operations, and disinformation campaigns.

The BND will be able to interfere with the IT infrastructure of a foreign state during a cyberattack or information operation against Germany. This could include penetrating computer systems, altering information, or disabling individual elements of the infrastructure.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution will also be able to infiltrate attackers' systems, block their operations, and conduct counter-cyberattacks. In specific cases, intelligence agencies may be permitted to disrupt the preparation of terrorist attacks, including by damaging weapons or explosives.

The draft also envisages expanded opportunities for covert access to smartphones and other electronic devices, as well as cross-referencing biometric data with material from open internet sources. In exceptional cases, the BND may continue in Germany an operation started against a foreign agent abroad.

The most sensitive operations are to be monitored by a new Independent Control Body, which will include experienced lawyers. It will be required to pre-approve serious surveillance measures and oversee compliance with data protection rules.

German authorities explain the reform by the heightened threats of espionage, sabotage, and hybrid attacks, particularly from Russia. The right to detain people will remain exclusively with the police.

Opposition parties fear that the reform will weaken the historically established principle in Germany of separating the functions of the police and the intelligence agencies. Critics also demand clearer rules for parliamentary and judicial oversight of the new powers.

Once approved by the government, the draft law must pass through the Bundestag.

Based on materials from: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany