Germany floats return to conscription if volunteer plan fails
Germany
will bring back conscription to boost its armed forces if a plan to use volunteers fails to deliver enough recruits, the country's defence minister has said.
Boris Pistorius said he would begin with a voluntary model to attract young people, supporting the Bundeswehr's goal of more than doubling its reserve forces in response to
Vladimir Putin
's full-scale invasion of
Ukraine
.
But he said Berlin would not shy away from a return to full conscription if the armed forces had spare training capacity – and would include such a provision in a Bill that will be presented to parliament after the summer break.
'My goal is that the law contains two regulations,' he told German broadcaster ARD, referring to a voluntary option and a compulsory one. The latter, he said, would have to be activated 'if the numbers are not sufficient'.
READ MORE
The fallback option would avoid a whole new legislative process if the voluntary enlistment numbers fall short. 'We don't have time for that,' he said. 'If we have a mechanism that is already in place, then it won't be a problem.'
Germany's chancellor
Friedrich Merz
said he wants his country to have the 'strongest conventional army in Europe', vowing to play a greater role in the continent's defence.
Mr Merz scrapped Germany's strict government debt rules to allow unlimited borrowing for defence spending after his victory in February's parliamentary elections. He aims to overhaul the country's long-neglected armed forces in response to fears of Russian aggression.
With money no longer a problem, the biggest issue confronting military planners is personnel shortages. Senior defence officials say the armed forces must expand to include about 80,000 more professional soldiers over the next 10 years to meet Germany's Nato commitments.
The country also needs to increase its number of active reservists who can be called upon in times of crisis, with the figure rising from about 60,000 today to 200,000 by the end of the decade.
Germany, where young people were compelled until 2011 to either do military service or a civilian alternative, has lost contact with many former conscripts who could serve as reservists due to data protection issues.
Mr Pistorius told ARD that the situation was a 'scandal' because 'it means that in an emergency, ie if we were attacked, we could not call up our reservists because we don't have their names or addresses'.
He said Germany was working to rebuild its reserves, starting with asking young people turning 18 to complete a survey about their willingness to do voluntary military training and then continue the commitment by being a part of the reserves. The scheme is expected to initially accept 5,000 people a year.
Senior figures in Mr Merz's Christian Democratic Union have criticised the plan. They argue Germany needs compulsory enlistment immediately to confront the security challenges facing Europe.
But Mr Pistorius has said the military does not yet have the barracks and manpower to train hundreds of thousands of young conscripts each year.
Instead, he has insisted on following a voluntary model inspired by a similar system in Sweden. Germany would simultaneously build up its training facilities, he said, and would return to conscription if there was spare capacity.
At the same time, Mr Pistorius said, the Bundeswehr would strive to recruit more professional soldiers to increase the standing army from about 183,000 people to about 260,000 by 2035 as part of its Nato targets.
'We have to do that by improving attractiveness, pay and other things,' he said. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Nato summit: ‘Trump whisperer' Rutte hopes to sell two-tier spending solution
Nato allies have reached agreement on a new defence spending target of 5 per cent of gross domestic product, as demanded by US president Donald Trump , who is due to attend the alliance's summit in The Hague this week. Last-minute complications thrown up by the Spanish government, when prime minister Pedro Sánchez demanded a special exemption from the new target, appeared by Monday to have been resolved by the use of more flexible terms for Madrid. The two-tier agreement – an increase of 3.5 per cent of GDP for military spending combined with an additional increase of 1.5 per cent of GDP for related non-military costs – is a major win for Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte. Rutte was referred to as the 'Trump whisperer' in 2018 when he persuaded the US president not to abandon the military alliance. His task now, in wartime, is even more onerous. READ MORE It is no exaggeration to say that in the current geopolitical climate Nato's future – perhaps even its existence – hinges on the capacity of its 32 member states to increase their military spending to 5 per cent of GDP, as demanded by Trump. The US president has repeatedly accused Europeans of sheltering under its nuclear umbrella without paying appropriately for the privilege. In March he said: 'If you're not going to pay, we're not going to defend.' Many European countries have, in fact, increased defence spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – although not by enough, either for Trump or the scale of the threats the Continent faces. Figures from the European Council show EU member states' total defence expenditure rose by more than 30 per cent in 2021-2024 to about €326 billion – about 1.9 per cent of EU GDP. Even so, only 22 of Nato's 32 members met its annual spending target of 2 per cent of GDP last year. Countries such as Canada, Italy and Belgium still lag behind but have pledged to reach the target by the end of this year. The US also falls shy of the 5 per cent mark. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, it spent $997 billion on defence in 2024, roughly 3.4 per cent of GDP. However, this is the highest outlay among the major developed economies, exceeding the combined total of the next nine highest spenders. In the top job only nine months, Rutte tested a two-tier plan at an informal meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Turkey last month. On foot of their response, he has written to the 32 allies asking them to increase their military budgets to 3.5 per cent of GDP on 'hard military spending'. He has also proposed a further 1.5 per cent be earmarked for dual-purpose civil-military spending, such as infrastructure and cybersecurity – bringing the total to Trump's 5 per cent., The two together bring the total into line with Trump's demand for 5 per cent – handing the president the kudos. For those countries who complain the increase is too costly, the former Dutch prime minister has included a softener that suggests an incremental increase to the 5 per cent, initially by 2032, then by 2035. As part of Operation Orange Shield, fighter jets, attack helicopters and navy frigates will patrol The Hague during the summit, with Patriot missile batteries ringing the city and lockdown around the conference centre. Some 9,000 people, including 45 heads of state and government, are due to attend the meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. King Willem Alexander will host a formal dinner on Tuesday. Total cost: €183.4 million.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Germany floats return to conscription if volunteer plan fails
Germany will bring back conscription to boost its armed forces if a plan to use volunteers fails to deliver enough recruits, the country's defence minister has said. Boris Pistorius said he would begin with a voluntary model to attract young people, supporting the Bundeswehr's goal of more than doubling its reserve forces in response to Vladimir Putin 's full-scale invasion of Ukraine . But he said Berlin would not shy away from a return to full conscription if the armed forces had spare training capacity – and would include such a provision in a Bill that will be presented to parliament after the summer break. 'My goal is that the law contains two regulations,' he told German broadcaster ARD, referring to a voluntary option and a compulsory one. The latter, he said, would have to be activated 'if the numbers are not sufficient'. READ MORE The fallback option would avoid a whole new legislative process if the voluntary enlistment numbers fall short. 'We don't have time for that,' he said. 'If we have a mechanism that is already in place, then it won't be a problem.' Germany's chancellor Friedrich Merz said he wants his country to have the 'strongest conventional army in Europe', vowing to play a greater role in the continent's defence. Mr Merz scrapped Germany's strict government debt rules to allow unlimited borrowing for defence spending after his victory in February's parliamentary elections. He aims to overhaul the country's long-neglected armed forces in response to fears of Russian aggression. With money no longer a problem, the biggest issue confronting military planners is personnel shortages. Senior defence officials say the armed forces must expand to include about 80,000 more professional soldiers over the next 10 years to meet Germany's Nato commitments. The country also needs to increase its number of active reservists who can be called upon in times of crisis, with the figure rising from about 60,000 today to 200,000 by the end of the decade. Germany, where young people were compelled until 2011 to either do military service or a civilian alternative, has lost contact with many former conscripts who could serve as reservists due to data protection issues. Mr Pistorius told ARD that the situation was a 'scandal' because 'it means that in an emergency, ie if we were attacked, we could not call up our reservists because we don't have their names or addresses'. He said Germany was working to rebuild its reserves, starting with asking young people turning 18 to complete a survey about their willingness to do voluntary military training and then continue the commitment by being a part of the reserves. The scheme is expected to initially accept 5,000 people a year. Senior figures in Mr Merz's Christian Democratic Union have criticised the plan. They argue Germany needs compulsory enlistment immediately to confront the security challenges facing Europe. But Mr Pistorius has said the military does not yet have the barracks and manpower to train hundreds of thousands of young conscripts each year. Instead, he has insisted on following a voluntary model inspired by a similar system in Sweden. Germany would simultaneously build up its training facilities, he said, and would return to conscription if there was spare capacity. At the same time, Mr Pistorius said, the Bundeswehr would strive to recruit more professional soldiers to increase the standing army from about 183,000 people to about 260,000 by 2035 as part of its Nato targets. 'We have to do that by improving attractiveness, pay and other things,' he said. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
Trump's drug plan risks higher medicine prices in Europe
European healthcare systems face paying more for drugs or losing access to new treatments as a result of Donald Trump's push for the global medicines industry to cut prices in the US, industry experts have warned. Global drugmakers are in talks with the Trump administration as he pressures them to voluntarily reduce their prices for American patients. Experts say the US president's plan risks significant consequences for European healthcare systems, as both the Trump administration and pharmaceutical companies are likely to seek price increases in Europe to allow for cheaper costs in the US. Trump's so-called most favoured nation drugs policy, set out in an executive order in May, is hanging over the industry's negotiations about changes to its UK pricing agreement, which are due to conclude this month. READ MORE Drugmakers are using the policy as an argument to bolster their case for charging the UK's National Health Service (NHS) more, people familiar with the matter say. The industry fears that if it settles for less with the NHS, the Trump administration could try to cut US drug prices to UK levels. European countries are likely to resist significant price hikes because budgets are stretched and many contracts with companies are long. This could mean drugmakers end up not launching new medicines in markets where the price will be much lower. Trump has accused Europe of being among the world's 'foreign freeloaders' that he says enjoy cheap drugs on the back of the US healthcare system, which pays sky-high prices for branded medicines. The Most Favoured Nation policy pushes drugmakers to offer US patients the lowest price they charge in any country where GDP per capita is at least 60 per cent of US levels. Dustin Benton, managing director at Forefront Advisors, a political risk research firm, said the policy is built on the premise that the administration can pressure European healthcare systems to pay more for drugs. 'The idea being that if Europeans pay more for drugs, then Americans can pay less for drugs', he said, adding that the medicines industry was discovering the 'downside of being multinationals'. 'We think the ultimate goal is if the price in the US is $100 (€86), and in Europe it is $20, Trump wants Europe to come up to $80 or $90, and the US to come down to the same,' said Philip Sclafani, a partner in PwC's life sciences practice. Trump has already shown signs of trying to put pricing pressure directly on other countries through trade deals. The EU would struggle to include promises on medicine prices in its potential trade deal with Washington because member states control their own budget negotiations on drugs. But the UK-US trade deal includes a promise from London that it will 'endeavour to improve the overall environment for pharmaceutical companies operating in the United Kingdom', without specifying what this might mean. The UK is likely to resist dramatic changes to the methodology it uses to value drugs, but it could present any changes to its pricing deal as a victory for Trump, if it could also make that politically palatable at home by winning additional investment from drugmakers. The UK caps the total bill for branded medicines with a clawback tax, and assesses each drug for value for money in a stringent process. Most Favoured Nation threatens pharmaceutical companies' business models, which are based on a large US market where drug prices are on average about 2.3 times higher than in 32 other OECD countries, according to research by the Rand Corporation for the US health and human services department. Companies are likely to try to offer small voluntary changes to the Trump administration. If those fail, legal challenges could follow. A court stopped the policy when Trump tried to introduce it towards the end of his previous administration, but on the grounds that he did not allow enough time for consultation. The industry shares some common ground with the Trump administration, however, as it has for a long time argued that Europe should pay more for drugs. Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said Most Favoured Nation was a 'validation of what we have been saying for a long time': that the UK will miss out on investment because it pays so little for drugs. Sclafani said the US administration is asking a lot if it expects the outcome to be an ideal 'pie in the sky world' where America spends less on healthcare and European countries are pushed to spend significantly more, even though this was achieved with Ukraine and defence spending. 'It would be very tough for most European populations to say the price of a drug is going to double,' Sclafani said. The UK health department said it had 'well-established and effective mechanisms for managing the costs of medicines and has clear processes in place to mitigate risks to supply'. The Danish ministry of the interior and health said there was 'free pricing' on pharmaceuticals in Denmark and there would continue to be so, while Germany said the country's assessments of a drug's benefits played a 'crucial role' in pricing. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
