The establishment of the National Security Council is approved/Merz: Central platform for discussing foreign policy

2025-08-28 08:46:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The establishment of the National Security Council is approved/Merz: Central

The German government has approved the internal regulations of the National Security Council. According to Chancellor Merz, the new body will be the central platform for discussing the government's foreign and security policy.

An administrative office for the National Security Council has already been created in the Chancellery. A body that will revolutionize German security policy. Because, as Friedrich Merz argued when he was still a candidate for chancellor: "The structures of the 1960s are no longer effective enough to meet the complex demands of our time."

Crisis meetings and strategic planning

In principle, the National Security Council will gather information on domestic, foreign, digital and economic security. The National Security Council will meet in the event of a crisis, but will also develop strategies for threat situations. The goal is to be able to better pool, process and coordinate competencies and knowledge in the future, according to government sources. This will enable the federal government to make decisions based on a comprehensive and robust information base.

An administrative unit was created for this purpose within the Chancellery, headed by Jacob Schrot, Merz's chief of staff. It will initially consist of 13 positions and will serve as a liaison between the Council proper, ministries, security authorities, federal states and external experts.

The CDU/CSU and SPD had announced the creation of a National Security Council in the coalition agreement. Among other things, it would take over the functions of the Federal Security Council, which meets mainly to discuss issues related to arms exports, and the Security Cabinet.

The National Security Council will be able to make final decisions, except when the Constitution or a federal law requires a resolution from the federal government.

Who is part of the National Security Council?

The chairman will be German Chancellor Merz, and his deputy will be Vice-Chancellor Klingbeil. Other members include the ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior and Justice, Economics and Energy, Economic Cooperation and Development, Digitalization and Modernization of the State, and the head of the Federal Chancellery. Other members of the federal government will be consulted as necessary. Representatives of German security authorities may also participate.

As a new development, representatives of the federal states, as well as representatives of other states, the European Union and NATO, can also be invited. In addition to an administrative office, the administrative unit also includes departments for the preparation of an integrated situational overview and strategic forecast.

There will be no security advisor like in the US

On the other hand, there will be no national security adviser like in the US. However, Mair, director of the Science and Policy Foundation (SWP), spoke in favor of creating this position. The creation of the Security Council is only a first step. In the medium term, he believes it is appropriate to have a national security adviser at the level of minister or secretary of state, he told the Reuters news agency./ DW