On June 12, 2026, Germany's Bundesrat, the legislative body representing the country's sixteen federal states, gave its approval to a package of significant laws and regulations covering pension increases, pharmacy reform, and domestic violence protection. The decisions mark a broad legislative push by the federal government to address pressing economic and social challenges.
The Bundesrat has approved the federal government's ordinance adjusting pension values under Germany's statutory pension insurance system. Beginning July 1, 2026, the current pension value, known as the Rentenwert, will rise uniformly across all federal states by 4.24 percent, bringing it to 42.52 euros per pension point. For a standard pension recipient who worked for 45 years at average earnings, this translates into an additional 77.85 euros per month.
The pension increase is not limited to general workers. Farmers covered under the agricultural pension scheme will also see their pension value rise, moving from 18.83 euros to 19.63 euros. Additionally, the ordinance sets new monthly thresholds for care allowances under statutory accident insurance, with the minimum fixed at 482 euros and the maximum at 1,916 euros.
The Bundesrat has approved a comprehensive pharmacy reform law already passed by the Bundestag, aimed at improving conditions for independently operated pharmacies and ensuring people across Germany retain reliable, local access to medications.
Smaller rural pharmacies have been struggling with staff shortages, structural change, and declining profitability. The law addresses this by raising emergency service compensation, introducing a subsidy for partial emergency cover, and simplifying the process of opening branch pharmacies by extending existing operating licenses. Experienced pharmaceutical-technical assistants may also temporarily manage a pharmacy for up to 20 days per year in a pharmacist's absence, subject to regulatory approval.
On the services front, pharmacies will now be permitted to administer vaccinations (excluding live vaccines), perform venous blood draws in adults for diagnostic purposes, and conduct rapid tests for infectious agents such as influenza, norovirus, and rotavirus. New pharmaceutical services targeting cardiovascular disease and diabetes prevention can be prescribed by doctors and documented in patients' electronic health records.
In specific circumstances, pharmacies will be allowed to dispense certain prescription medications without a doctor's prescription, covering chronic condition follow-up care and uncomplicated acute illnesses. The Health Ministry will define these cases by regulation. Medications with abuse or dependency potential and systemic antibiotics remain excluded. The law enters into force largely the day after its publication in the Federal Law Gazette.
The law has now been passed to the Federal President for formal enactment and publication in the Federal Law Gazette. The majority of its provisions will come into force the day after publication.
The Bundesrat has approved a law introducing electronic ankle monitoring nationwide to better protect victims of domestic violence. With over 250,000 cases recorded annually, predominantly against women, the legislation seeks to strengthen civil law protections under the existing Protection Against Violence Act and ensure breaches of protective orders are more effectively sanctioned.
Modelled on a system already operating in Spain, family courts can now order high-risk perpetrators to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. When a restraining order is violated, the monitoring center is alerted automatically and can respond by contacting the perpetrator directly or notifying the nearest police authority, removing the burden from victims to report breaches themselves. Perpetrators may also be required to carry a functioning mobile phone to remain reachable.
A victim's consent is not needed for the court to impose monitoring. Victims can, however, request a secondary device showing when a perpetrator is nearby. Courts can also define a warning zone beyond the formal exclusion zone for earlier automated alerts, a measure the Bundesrat itself had proposed in January.
Family courts are further empowered to order perpetrators to attend anti-violence training or prevention counseling, and can request data from the national firearms registry. The maximum sentence for breaching a protection order rises to three years. The law comes into force on the first day of the fourth calendar quarter following its publication.
Following the Bundesrat's approval, the law will be formally enacted and published in the Federal Law Gazette. The bulk of its provisions will come into force on the first day of the fourth calendar quarter following publication.
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