Germany: CDU, CSU, and SPD agreed on a coalition agreement including restructuring of German data protection authority

On 9 April 2025, CDU, CSU, and SPD agreed on a coalition agreement for the 21st legislative period, which outlines changes to the organisation and tasks of the German data protection authority. According to the agreement, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) is to be restructured into a Federal Commissioner for Data Use, Data Protection and Freedom of Information. The agreement further provides that the Data Protection Conference (DSK) is to be anchored in the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) to establish common standards. The agreement specifies the bundling of competencies regarding data protection supervision at the federal level and the addition of responsibilities related to the promotion of data use within the framework of data protection law.