Ministry, Led by CDU Politician Karin Prien, Having Surveyed 23 Major Associations and Organizations About Their Capacity to Host Service

Twenty-two of those groups indicated they would be willing to offer placements. The move has drawn support from CDU parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei, who called the preparation "very clever and right, though he noted there is no new momentum toward reinstating the draft. Currently, military service remains voluntary, a compromise between the conservative Union and the Social Democrats.

The Bundeswehr aims to grow from 185,000 to at least 260,000 soldiers by 2030, and a new mandatory questionnaire for all 18-year-old men, introduced this year, has so far yielded only about 530 volunteers for 2026. Conscription, suspended in 2011 but not removed from the constitution, could be reactivated by parliament if security needs arise. While welfare associations have pledged support, they warn against expecting civilian service to solve staffing shortages in social sectors. Caritas president Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa urged improving conditions for voluntary services, saying "there is still a lot of room for improvement. Opposition leader Ines Schwerdtner of Die Linke criticized the idea, arguing the state should not dictate how young people spend a year of their lives, nor should they serve as stopgaps for a welfare state that the government has underfunded for years.