What could German digital policy look like after the Bundestag election?

How should Germany become more digital? In the election campaign for the Bundestag elections on 23 February, parties are setting different priorities in their digital policy, from the establishment of a digital ministry to the regulation of digital platforms and AI. This blog article highlights the most important positions and shows what role digital policy could play in the next government. 

What role does digital policy play in the Bundestag election?

On 23 February, Germany will elect a new parliament. Digital policy is often regarded as an important issue for Germany’s modernity in public discourse. Although topics such as the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine and economic and socio-political issues are (rightly) at the centre of public and political discourse, it is worth looking at digital policy aspects. This is particularly true as Germany is only in the mid-range in digitalisation compared to other European countries, and there is still room for improvement, especially in the digitalisation of administration (e.g., Europäische Kommission, 2022). At the same time, digital policy has been more strongly addressed by German parties in the past than in many other European countries (König & Wenzelburger, 2018). Which digital policy proposals have been put forward in this year’s Bundestag election?

This blog post looks at the (preliminary) election programmes of the parties that may be represented in the next Bundestag. Digital policy is understood here as a cross-cutting issue that encompasses both the provision of digital infrastructure and the digitalisation of various areas of politics and society and their implications. This analysis is based on the relevant sections of the election programmes: At the time of writing (as of 13 January), some programmes were only available in draft form so the final election programmes may contain amendments. This article intends to provide an overview of selected party proposals and does not constitute a party endorsement.

Which digital policy issues are particularly emphasised?

Previous research has found that German parties address digital policy issues in line with their other priorities. For example, the CDU/CSU primarily mentioned the economic aspects of digitalisation, while the Greens also strongly linked digital policy to environmental and socio-political issues (König, 2018; König & Siewert, 2021). This trend has also been observed in the 2024 European elections (Güttel, 2024) and this year’s Bundestag election campaign. 

Parties also differ in terms of how they anchor digital policy in their manifestos: While Bündnis 90/ The Greens, for example, dedicate a sub-chapter relatively at the beginning of their election manifesto to digitalisation, other parties, such as the CDU/CSU and SPD, address the topic in different sub-chapters. It is also interesting to note that the FDP, which in 2017 still based its election campaign heavily on digitalisation as a policy issue (Franzmann, 2019), is now focusing comparatively less on it. 

Despite different approaches, there are many common digital policy demands among the parties in the democratic spectrum. These include the expansion of digital infrastructure, the reduction of bureaucracy, the digitalisation of the healthcare system and economic opportunities through the use of digital technologies. The following analysis looks at two key questions: Should a separate Ministry of Digital Affairs be created? And how do the parties position themselves on the regulation of digital platforms and artificial intelligence? How do the parties motivate these demands? 

Will Germany have its first Ministry of Digital Affairs?

All parties on the democratic spectrum are addressing digitalisation in connection with the reduction of bureaucracy and a modern state, and are highlighting the urgent need for action in this area. The CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP are once again calling for the first establishment of a Ministry of Digital Affairs to realise these goals. The CDU/CSU links the proposed establishment of a Ministry of Digital Affairs with what they see as the necessary ‘re-industrialisation of the country’ (CDU, 2024, p. 2-3). A possible Ministry of Digital Affairs should also assume responsibility for issues such as AI, data policy, and IT procurement. The SPD associates its call for a Ministry of Digital Affairs primarily with the required digitalisation of the administration (SPD, 2025). The FDP proposes that administrative digitalisation should be detached from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and that the existing digitalisation departments of other ministries should be merged to create a Ministry of Digital Affairs (FDP, 2025, p. 37). The FDP also proposes an amendment to the German constitution to strengthen cooperation between the federal and state governments on administrative digitalisation (FDP, 2025, p. 12).

The Greens take a different approach: the proposals focus on reorganising some responsibilities between the federal and state levels, rather than proposing a Ministry of Digital Affairs. These reform processes could also be accompanied by discussions in a citizen council (Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, 2025, p. 17). To catch up on investments related to digitalisation, the Greens are calling for a reform of the so-called ‘debt brake’ which currently strictly curbs the public deficits. The election manifestos, or their drafts, of the AfD, BSW and the Left Party do not mention the institutional conditions surrounding digitalisation. 

Civil society experts are calling for a strong political mandate for digitalisation as well as for a modernisation of the federal government’s working style and the inclusion of civil society. They consider whether this political mandate is located in a Ministry of Digital Affairs to be of secondary importance (Heumann, 2025). 

How do parties view the regulation of digital platform companies and AI?

The last European elections had already revealed different positions on regulating digital platform companies such as Facebook and AI (Güttel, 2024). This persists in this year’s Bundestag election campaign: the SPD wants to update the AI strategy (SPD, 2025, p. 7) and proposes to use AI in the police force to fight crime (SPD, 2025, p.38). It supports the recently enacted European AI Act (Verbraucherzentrale, 2024) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) (Watolla & Kettemann, 2024) and plans a mandatory labelling of bots on online platforms (SPD, 2025, p. 38). The Greens describe the AI Act as an important cornerstone of ‘digital civil rights’ (Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, 2025, p. 50). The CDU/CSU and FDP, on the other hand, call for the AI Act to be made ‘more innovation-friendly’ (FDP, 2025, p. 10) or for it not to be ‘over-fulfilled’ (CDU, 2024, p. 27). The CDU/CSU supports the ‘digitalisation of all areas of life and the use of AI’, which also includes the use of AI by security authorities (CDU, 2024, p. 27). The Left Party, on the other hand, calls for a social debate on which digital technologies should be adopted in our everyday lives and thus distances itself from a discourse that takes digitalisation for granted (Linke, 2025, p. 57). It also calls for digital participation rights and strongly criticises the power of digital platform companies. 

The far-right AfD rejects the European AI Act, the DSA, and the German Network Enforcement Act because they would restrict freedom of expression (AfD, 2024, p. 20). Civil society initiatives against disinformation are also harshly criticised, as internet users would have the right to ‘be wrong’ (AfD, 2024, p. 20). Once again, the far-right party claims that European countries want to establish social scoring techniques based on the Chinese model (AfD, 2024, p. 18). There is no evidence to support this claim. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance criticises Europe as a ‘digital colony of Silicon Valley’ (BSW, 2025, p. 31), and calls for digitalisation without ‘coercion’ with analogue alternatives (BSW, 2025, p. 18).   

Digital policy in the new federal government

Despite some common digital policy demands in the election campaign, there are also differences in the parties’ priorities and positions. There are broad similarities among the parties in the democratic spectrum, regarding the opportunities offered by digitalisation in areas such as administration and healthcare. It therefore remains exciting to see how and with what priority digital policy will be shaped by the next federal government. This is particularly true in light of the likely complex coalition negotiations and the strong adherence to the debt brake by some parties such as the CDU/CSU and FDP. The future coalition agreement as well as the organisational division and staffing of the new federal government could provide initial information on the priority that will be given to digitalisation in the future. The question of digital platform companies could also become even more important. Concerning Meta’s announcement to stop fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram (Tagesschau, 2025) and Elon Musk’s support of far-right forces (Nenno & Lorenz-Spreen, 2025; Wired, 2025), the question arises as to whether parties will further politicise this topic.