EU AI Act in Germany
Germany’s implementation runs through the KI-MIG: the KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz. Sources disagree on whether formal designation is complete, and that distinction matters if you need to know who supervises you today.
High-volatility page, verify before relying on it
National implementation is moving and public sources disagree about the status of several member states. Everything below is dated to our last review. Before relying on any statement about which authority supervises you, check the Commission’s published list of notified national competent authorities and the authority’s own website. We would rather tell you a fact is contested than present it cleanly and be wrong. Our standards →
Status as at our last review
| Implementing law | KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz (KI-MIG). Cabinet adopted the draft 11 February 2026; Bundestag first reading 20 March 2026; Bundesrat opinion 2 April 2026. |
| Proposed market surveillance authority | Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), with a planned coordination and competence centre (KoKIVO) to support other competent authorities. |
| Sector authorities retain competence | BaFin is intended as competent authority for high-risk AI directly linked to regulated financial activities. BfArM is reported for AI medical devices. |
| Notifying authority | Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) reported as notifying authority. |
| Data protection authority | Germany's decision to route AI Act supervision through BNetzA rather than its data protection authorities is a deliberate structural choice and is unusual among member states. |
Where this usually goes next
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Where the sources disagree
One source reporting in April 2026 lists Germany as having designated BNetzA. A readiness assessment from May 2026 states that until the KI-MIG is passed and published, BNetzA remains a proposed authority in draft statute rather than formally designated and notified. Both can be true at different points in a process. We have not resolved which describes the position today.
How to get a definitive answer
- The European Commission’s published list of national competent authorities notified under Article 70 is the authoritative record of who has been designated.
- The authority’s own website, which will usually say whether it has AI Act competence.
- Your sector regulator, which in several member states retains competence for high-risk AI in its field regardless of who the lead authority is.
What to do in Germany specifically
- Identify your sector authority first, not BNetzA. The KI-MIG design keeps sector authorities competent in their fields. If you are a financial institution your likely counterparty is BaFin; for medical devices, BfArM. BNetzA is the coordinating lead, not the universal answer.
- Watch the KI-MIG passage, not just the designation. National penalty procedures are set by the implementing law. Until it passes, how penalties are administered in Germany is not fully settled.
- Works council co-determination is the practical gate for workplace AI, and it operates independently of the AI Act. In Germany it frequently binds before any AI Act obligation does. HR guide →
- The BNetzA route is structurally unusual. Most member states routed AI Act supervision through or alongside their data protection authority. Germany deliberately did not, which means your existing DPA relationship is not the relationship that matters here.
What does not depend on designation
The AI Act is a regulation. It applies directly and in full without national transposition. Member states designate authorities and set national penalty procedures: they do not create the obligations.
So none of this is waiting on a designation:
Article 50 disclosure, Article 4 literacy, Article 49 registration, classification and the Article 6(4) assessment are all live or actionable and none waits on a designation. Full checklist →
Status labels on this page
Verified fact: The Regulation applies directly without transposition; the Article 70 designation duty applied from 2 August 2025; the obligations listed above are independent of national designation.
Expert analysis: The assessment of what matters practically in an early enforcement conversation.
Unsettled: The current designation status in this member state. Sources conflict; verify against the Commission's published list.
Work on what does not depend on a regulator
Inventory, classification, Article 50 and Article 4 are all actionable today and none of them waits on a national designation. That is the work with no excuse attached to it.
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The classifier maps your system against Articles 5, 6, 50 and Annex III. Twelve questions, no email.
Frequently asked
Who enforces the EU AI Act in Germany?
Germany's draft implementing law, the KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz or KI-MIG, designates the Bundesnetzagentur as the primary market surveillance authority, with sector authorities retaining competence in their fields, notably BaFin for high-risk AI linked to regulated financial activities. Sources differ on whether formal designation and notification to the Commission has been completed, which depends on the passage of the KI-MIG. Verify against the Commission's published list.
What is the KI-MIG?
The KI-Marktüberwachungs- und Innovationsförderungsgesetz is Germany's national framework for implementing the EU AI Act. The AI Act is a regulation and applies directly without transposition, but member states must designate competent authorities, establish market surveillance structures and set national penalty procedures. The KI-MIG does that for Germany. The federal cabinet adopted the draft on 11 February 2026.