Germany is strengthening the protection of its critical infrastructure against sabotage, terrorist attacks and natural disasters. The Bundesrat approved the so-called Kritis law on Friday, which requires operators of infrastructure facilities to implement stricter security concepts and emergency plans. The law had been passed in the Bundestag at the end of January and also transposes an EU directive into national law.
State interior ministers referenced current threats to infrastructure in the Bundesrat debate, pointing to hybrid attacks by suspected Russian actors in Germany and a left-wing extremist attack on Berlin's power grid in early January. "How important the supply of critical infrastructure is only becomes clear when a disruption occurs," said Baden-Württemberg Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU).
Berlin's Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD), referring to the attack on Berlin's power grid, warned that an event which might represent a regional crisis elsewhere could quickly become a nationwide problem in a major city. She noted that Berlin carries a double responsibility as a metropolis of millions, seat of government and capital city.
The previous coalition government had also sought to better protect critical infrastructure. An earlier draft of the Kritis law was never passed due to the collapse of the coalition. In a second attempt, the law was passed at the end of January with the votes of the CDU/CSU, SPD and AfD.
The Kritis law aims to identify facilities in sectors such as energy, food and transport that are indispensable for public supply and the functioning of the economy. Which facilities are specifically affected will be determined by several criteria, with the Federal Interior Ministry set to issue a separate legal ordinance on the matter. In principle, the law covers companies and facilities that supply more than 500,000 people.
The federal states have criticised this threshold as insufficient, pointing to medium-sized cities that would fall below it. An exception exists for the states themselves, they will be able to classify facilities under the jurisdiction of a state authority as critical on their own initiative.
The specific security measures that facility operators must implement will also be regulated through further legal ordinances. However, operators will in any case be required to report incidents and carry out regular risk assessments going forward.
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