On 10 February 2026, the German Federal Government adopted the official government draft of the AI Market Surveillance and Innovation Promotion Act (KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungs-Gesetz — KI-MIG; Bundestag printed paper 21/4594). The draft implements the EU AI Act at national level and marks the formal start of the legislative process in the Bundestag. As of 31 May 2026, the draft has not yet been passed into law (the statutory implementation deadline of 2 August 2025 has already been missed).
Key provisions of the KI-MIG draft:
- Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) as central AI supervisory authority: Designated as the default market surveillance authority and Germany’s single point of contact with the EU AI Office, with far-reaching enforcement powers across AI Act compliance.
- Independent AI market surveillance chamber: An independent three-member chamber within BNetzA, reporting annually to the Bundestag, specifically responsible for monitoring high-risk AI systems in sensitive areas (law enforcement, border management, justice and democratic processes).
- Hybrid supervisory model: BNetzA as the central authority, complemented by sector-specific regulators — BaFin for financial sector AI, regional authorities for certain public applications.
- Central citizen complaints office: A new central complaints mechanism enabling citizens to report potential AI Act breaches; complaints are forwarded to the relevant authority.
- AI regulatory sandboxes: Germany’s implementing law explicitly enables real-world laboratories (Reallabore) for AI development and testing, satisfying the EU AI Act’s Article 57 requirement.
- Fines for procedural breaches: Administrative fines of up to €50,000 for violations of cooperation and information obligations under the German implementing law, in addition to the main sanctions under the EU AI Act itself.
Governance dimension: The KI-MIG draft represents a significant step toward Germany having a national AI market surveillance authority with enforcement powers. However, as a draft not yet enacted, it does not yet alter Germany’s operational governance posture. The new Federal Ministry for Digitalisation and State Modernisation (established under the April 2025 coalition agreement) is expected to provide political coordination for AI policy, but sector-specific enforcement will flow through BNetzA and sectoral regulators.
Scoring note: Dimension 10 remains scored at 1. The KI-MIG draft anticipates a BNetzA chamber with full enforcement powers (which would qualify for a score of 2), but the law is not yet enacted. Score update to 2 is appropriate once the KI-MIG is formally enacted.