eco – Association of the Internet Industry assesses the budget of the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation (BMDS) for 2026, approved by the German Bundestag on Tuesday, as significantly too weak to effectively advance Germany’s digital transformation.
Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, says:
“The budget of the new Ministry of Digitalisation shows how much Germany continues to struggle with pursuing a serious digital policy. With a core budget of only 1.36 billion euros, the BMDS is one of the smallest ministries in the German federal government – and this for a topic that determines our country’s international competitiveness. Even when including funds from the special fund, the budget only amounts to 4.47 billion euros. More than half of these funds are allocated to expanding broadband and mobile networks. This leaves hardly any room for innovation policy.
“It is particularly critical that the Minister has hardly any means of influencing key issues such as AI or digital sovereignty. Budget funds for AI support or digital innovation lie entirely within the budgets of other ministries. The BMDS can therefore coordinate – but cannot truly shape policy. For a ministry that is supposed to secure Germany’s digital future, this represents a structural deficit.
“The large share of special funds in the BMDS budget also masks the absence of additional investment. Everything that is financed from these funds – from broadband expansion to the EUDI wallet and register modernisation – consists of long-planned projects that were simply shifted from the core budget into the special fund. This does not generate any additional digital momentum. It comes at the expense of our country’s future viability.
“Germany can no longer afford this symbolic digital policy. If we want to take sovereign digitalisation seriously, we must do more than merely rearrange responsibilities. We need real investments in AI and digital infrastructure, as well as a digital budget that meets political demands.”
With around 1,000 member companies, eco is the leading association of the Internet industry in Europe. Since 1995, eco has significantly shaped the Internet, promoted new technologies, created framework conditions and represented the interests of its members in politics and international committees. eco has offices in Cologne, Berlin and Brussels. eco advocates for a high-performance, reliable and trustworthy ecosystem of digital infrastructures and services and has stood for a responsible Internet for 30 years.
