Political positions, theme by theme

How quickly and how thoroughly Germany should digitise its economy, society and state. In the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index, Germany ranked 12th overall in 2020 and only 21st for digital public services; in 2021 it was 11th overall but still below the EU average in e-government.

Political position As Federal Government Commissioner for Digitalisation she was the government's public voice on digital policy and argued for faster change. In January 2020 Handelsblatt listed her among the Union politicians pressing for a dedicated federal digital ministry.

Documented statement On data protection, she told Bild in March 2018, days before taking office:

„Tatsächlich existiert in Deutschland aber ein Datenschutz wie im 18. Jahrhundert.““In fact, though, Germany has data protection like in the 18th century.” Bild interview, 6 March 2018, as quoted by netzpolitik.org.

Verified fact The commissioner's post was located in the Federal Chancellery; it was not a ministry and had no ministerial budget of its own. She worked alongside the ten-member Digital Council chaired by Katrin Suder, which first met on 22 August 2018, and the implementation strategy "Digitalisierung gestalten" (Shaping Digitalisation), presented at the cabinet retreat of 15 November 2018. Within the Digital Cabinet she coordinated the round of state secretaries.

Criticism netzpolitik.org argued that the data-protection remark repeated industry talking points. The same outlet had noted at her appointment that the powers and budget of the new post were unclear, and a Handelsblatt opinion column was headlined "Die Digitalministerin ist eine Luftnummer" ("The digital minister is a non-starter"). Her reference to flying taxis in a ZDF interview of 6 March 2018, given in answer to a question about slow broadband, was widely mocked under the hashtag #Flugtaxi.

Analysis Data-protection advocates see strong privacy rules as a competitive strength and a precondition for public trust in digital services, rather than a brake.

Analysis Her central institutional argument, that digital policy needs its own ministry, was realised in 2025 when the Merz government created the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernisation under Karsten Wildberger. She herself took a different portfolio. See Digitalisation for the full record.

Which technologies the state should back with public money, and how Germany can reduce its dependence on others in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum computing.

Political position Concentrate funding on a defined set of key technologies. The High-Tech Agenda Germany, adopted by the cabinet on 30 July 2025, names six: AI, quantum technologies, microelectronics, biotechnology, fusion and climate-neutral energy generation, and technologies for climate-neutral mobility.

Documented statement In the Bundestag's first reading of the 2026 budget she presented the agenda as her defining project:

„Eine noch klarere Handschrift als die Hightech-Agenda kann es nicht geben““There could be no clearer signature than the High-Tech Agenda.” Bundestag, 26 September 2025.

Verified fact The organisational decree of 6 May 2025 moved core questions of innovation and technology policy, the development of digital technologies, the High-Tech Agenda, AI gigafactories, the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) and games into her ministry from the economics ministry. The agenda is backed by around €18 billion to 2029, including €5.5 billion from special funds, with flagship goals such as AI-based activity making up 10 per cent of economic output by 2030.

Criticism After her first year in office, the Greens' research spokesperson Ayse Asar said the government talked of strategic roadmaps and dialogue formats but could not answer central questions such as what the money was actually achieving. During the 2026 budget debate, Green MPs worried that scientific procedures could be bypassed and money concentrated in Bavaria. The ministry countered that the projects were advancing in planning and implementation.

Analysis Naming key technologies and attaching dated milestones is a shift towards mission-oriented policy. Most targets fall between 2028 and 2032, so whether the approach works cannot yet be judged. See High-Tech Agenda and Technology policy.

How to keep German research open, international and well funded while protecting it from espionage and the transfer of sensitive knowledge, and how to attract researchers from abroad.

Political position Research security and academic freedom must be pursued together, not traded against each other.

„Die Welt ist massiv im Umbruch. Für Wohlstand und Souveränität in Deutschland und Europa müssen wir unsere Forschung sichern und gleichzeitig die Wissenschaftsfreiheit schützen.““The world is in massive upheaval. For prosperity and sovereignty in Germany and Europe we must secure our research while protecting academic freedom.” 19 December 2025.

Documented statement On recruiting talent, she declared the 1000 Köpfe Plus programme a success after one year, citing 286 approvals (April 2026).

Verified fact On 19 December 2025 the federal government, the states and the science organisations agreed key points for a National Platform for Research Security, led and funded by her ministry until 2029. In October 2026 she presented the results of a special investigation at the CISPA Helmholtz Center in Saarbrücken, which found that security-relevant knowledge could have leaked. Germany's R&D spending reached 3.17 per cent of GDP in 2024; the target of 3.5 per cent has been moved to 2030. The May 2025 Excellence Strategy decision was a joint federal–state process, not hers.

Criticism The core research budget for 2026, €21.82 billion, was €0.58 billion below 2025, although special funds lift the total to about €23.5 billion. Left Party MP Sonja Lemke criticised spending blocks on construction and transfer programmes.

Analysis The research baseline records no specific criticism of the research-security platform itself. The underlying tension, between screening international cooperation and keeping science open, is one her own statement acknowledges.

Analysis Research security has moved from a niche concern to a standing federal–state structure during her tenure. Its practical effect will be visible only once the platform is fully operational in January 2027. See Research policy.

What Germany should spend on space, and why: for science and exploration, for commercial competitiveness, or for security and independent access to satellites and launchers.

Political position Space is a strategic investment in economy, security and sovereignty, and Germany should lead in Europe.

„Raumfahrt ist kein Selbstzweck, sondern es geht dabei um Wirtschaft, Sicherheit und Souveränität.““Space is not an end in itself; it is about the economy, security and sovereignty.” Bundestag budget debate, 28 November 2025.

Verified fact Space, including the German Aerospace Center (DLR), moved into her ministry in May 2025. According to a Bundestag document, a new directorate for "space and security" bundles federal space responsibilities. At the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in Bremen in November 2025 Germany subscribed €5.4 billion, about 23 per cent of the total, making it the largest contributor. The 2026 budget provides almost €2.4 billion for space. A national space law, whose key points the previous government adopted in September 2024, was still in inter-ministerial coordination in July 2026.

Analysis The research baseline records no specific parliamentary criticism of the ESA subscription itself. Opposition criticism of her budget was general: that the core research budget fell and that funds might flow disproportionately to Bavaria. Framing space explicitly in terms of security raises questions, debated across Europe, about how civil space programmes relate to defence needs.

Analysis This is the theme on which her ministerial framing is most explicit and most consistent. The pending national space law will be a test of whether that framing becomes legislation. See Space policy.

Modernising mobility and freight: connected and automated vehicles, drones, logistics chains and new forms of air mobility.

Verified fact From December 2013 to March 2018 she was Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure under Alexander Dobrindt, and from 2014 to 2018 also the Federal Government Coordinator for Freight Transport and Logistics. She signed a declaration of intent with Deutsche Bahn on monitoring rail infrastructure with drones.

Analysis Beyond these roles and the flying-taxi remark of 2018, few transport positions in her own name are documented in the research baseline. This entry therefore does not attribute a broader transport programme to her.

Verified fact The ministry set up the Digital Test Field on the A9 motorway in 2015 and, in 2017, Germany amended its Road Traffic Act to allow highly and fully automated driving functions, preceded by an ethics commission chaired by Udo Di Fabio. These were ministry-level measures; her personal part in them is not documented.

Criticism The flying-taxi remark drew ridicule for appearing to skip over basic connectivity problems. Bavaria later adopted an air-mobility strategy that includes flying taxis.

Analysis There is a thread from these years to her current ministry, which since 2025 is responsible for funding U-space (drone traffic management) and Advanced Air Mobility, and whose High-Tech Agenda includes climate-neutral mobility. See Transport & infrastructure.

Fast broadband across the country, including rural areas such as her own Lower Franconian constituency, and the research infrastructure that large science projects require.

Verified fact As Parliamentary State Secretary she handed over 62 funding notices under the federal broadband programme in July 2016.

Analysis Presenting funding decisions is part of the role; it does not by itself document a distinct position on how broadband should be rolled out. No detailed infrastructure programme in her name is recorded.

Verified fact The ministry was created in December 2013 by combining transport with digital infrastructure. As research minister, her Fusion Action Plan includes up to €755 million from the special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality for a new laser-fusion research facility.

Criticism Germany's weak position in European digital rankings during her years in government is frequently cited by critics. The 2018 flying-taxi interview arose from a question about slow broadband, and critics read her answer as a deflection.

Analysis Infrastructure is a theme where she held office but where her personal imprint is hard to separate from the ministry's. Claims of a personal broadband record should be treated with caution.

Germany produces strong research but is often said to struggle to turn it into products, companies and jobs: the problem of "transfer".

Documented statement On 20 May 2026 she presented the first six technology roadmaps (AI, microelectronics, biotechnology, fusion, batteries and quantum) to the Bundestag research committee and opened them to a six-week public consultation. They include a €100 million "KI-Robotik-Booster" (AI robotics booster) and €115 million over five years for four "Hightech-Spaces".

Analysis Her approach to transfer is expressed mainly through the High-Tech Agenda and its roadmaps; a separate, detailed innovation doctrine in her own words is not documented.

Verified fact SPRIND, the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, given greater freedoms by the SPRIND Freedom Act of December 2023 under the previous government, now falls within her ministry. According to a Bundestag document, the planned transfer agency DATI was not continued; the coalition agreement replaces it with an umbrella brand, "Initiative Forschung & Anwendung".

Criticism Greens spokesperson Ayse Asar's charge that roadmaps and dialogue formats do not show what the money achieves applies directly here, as does Left Party criticism of spending blocks on transfer programmes.

Analysis Public consultation on roadmaps is a notable procedural choice. Whether the roadmaps produce faster transfer than DATI was intended to will only become clear later in the decade. See Innovation.

How the state should support families with young children, and how to raise the share of women in politics, including in her own party.

Political position Freedom of choice for parents. In the Bundestag debate of 9 November 2012 she defended the Betreuungsgeld, a monthly payment for parents who did not use publicly funded daycare for their young children, and described it together with the expansion of daycare places as „ein wunderbares Gesamtpaket“ (“a wonderful overall package”). The bill passed by 310 votes to 282.

Political position In 2010 she backed a binding women's quota in the CSU, pointing out that women made up only about 18 per cent of party members. The CSU party congress adopted a quota decision in October 2010. In the same period she told der Freitag:

„Ich bin eine totale Demokratieverfechterin.““I am a total champion of democracy.” der Freitag, 14 October 2010.

Verified fact From 2009 to 2013 she was the CDU/CSU group's spokesperson for family, seniors, women and youth, and from December 2021 to 2025 deputy group chair responsible for family and culture.

Criticism Opponents of the Betreuungsgeld argued that it gave families a financial incentive to keep children out of early education. In July 2015 the Federal Constitutional Court struck down the federal Betreuungsgeld because the federation lacked the legislative competence; the ruling did not decide the policy argument itself.

Analysis Supporting a binding quota was a notable step for a CSU politician, and sits alongside a family policy that emphasised parental choice rather than a single model.

Analysis These are among her most clearly documented positions, but they date from more than a decade ago and from a different role. See Family & youth policy.

What the state owes young people: recognition for the clubs and activities they take part in, and financial support for study.

Political position E-sports clubs should enjoy the same charitable status as other voluntary associations. When the cabinet approved this on 10 September 2025 through the Tax Amendment Act 2025, she called it „Meilenstein für Gaming, Jugendförderung und Vereinsarbeit“ (“a milestone for gaming, youth development and club work”).

Documented statement On student finance, she said in May 2026 that she had heard the coalition groups no longer supported a BAföG reform, adding:

„Es wird kein Vollkaskostudium geben, jeder muss seinen Teil dazu beitragen.““There will be no fully comprehensive cover for studying; everyone must contribute their share.” zdfheute, 31 May 2026.

Verified fact She argued that with cuts to care and parental benefits it was understandable not to promise large extra benefits elsewhere, and stressed that Germany charges no tuition fees. Charitable status is a tax-law matter; the measure formed part of a broader tax bill.

Criticism The SPD contradicted her on BAföG, and Matthias Anbuhl, chair of the Deutsches Studierendenwerk, said she had lost touch with the reality of students' lives. On e-sports, organised sport has long debated whether gaming should count as sport.

Analysis The two positions point in different directions: generous recognition for gaming clubs, budgetary restraint on student support. Both are best read in their fiscal context. See Criticism & controversies.

How federal politics treats culture and the creative economy, including newer forms such as computer games.

Political position Games are both a cultural form and an industry worth supporting. She has long been associated with the German Computer Game Award, and games funding moved into her ministry in 2025.

Verified fact From December 2021 to 2025 she was deputy chair of the CDU/CSU group responsible for family and culture, including media.

Verified fact On 12 September 2014 she wore a dirndl on the government bench during a budget debate. In September 2020, according to widespread reporting, she left the Ludwig-Erhard-Stiftung in protest after the magazine Tichys Einblick published a sexist article about the SPD politician Sawsan Chebli.

Criticism Green MP Sylvia Kotting-Uhl wrote that the dirndl was fine for Bavaria but "backward" elsewhere; Bär replied with a photograph of the Green politician Claudia Roth in a dirndl. Beyond games, her positions on cultural funding are thinly documented in the research baseline.

Analysis Her cultural profile is strongest where culture meets technology. See Culture & media.

The future of journalism and broadcasting, platform power and the public's ability to judge information online.

Verified fact She chaired CSUnet, the CSU's net-policy association, from 2010 or 2011 (sources differ), and held responsibility for media as deputy group chair from 2021. As commissioner she announced a "Bundeszentrale für digitale Aufklärung" (Federal Agency for Digital Education) in 2020.

Analysis Her positions on public broadcasting, press funding or platform regulation are not documented in the research baseline, and this page does not attribute any.

Verified fact The Bundeszentrale für digitale Aufklärung was financed only through a €20,000 feasibility study from existing funds. After ten months it had produced three events and six podcast episodes.

Criticism netzpolitik.org asked in May 2021 what had become of the project; the established Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) called the name "misleading".

Analysis Media is a portfolio area in which her documented footprint is small. See Culture & media.

Bringing administrative services online and organising digital policy inside government so that someone is clearly responsible.

Political position Digital policy should be bundled in its own ministry (reported January 2020). As commissioner she coordinated the state-secretary round of the Digital Cabinet and communicated the government's digital strategy.

Verified fact The Online Access Act of 2017 required 575 administrative services to be available online by the end of 2022. Responsibility lay with the Federal Interior Ministry, not with her. On 13 September 2021 the National Regulatory Control Council said the deadline could not be met, and it was missed.

Criticism From the outset, netzpolitik.org pointed out that the powers and budget of the commissioner's post were unclear, and Germany's poor EU ranking for digital public services became a standing charge against the government's digital record.

Analysis A commissioner without a ministry could urge but not direct. The counter-argument is that digitalisation runs through every ministry and therefore needs coordination at the centre; the 2025 decision to create a digital ministry settled the debate in favour of concentration.

Analysis The structural lesson she drew, a dedicated ministry, became policy in 2025. See Government modernisation.

Whether Europe can keep pace with the United States and China in strategic technologies, and what role Germany should play in shared European programmes.

Political position Germany should lead within European structures. Her statements frame sovereignty as German and European at once.

„Raumfahrt ist eine Investition in unsere Zukunft. Mit Deutschland und Europa ist in der Raumfahrt zu rechnen.““Space is an investment in our future. Germany and Europe are a force to be reckoned with in space.” ESA Ministerial Council, November 2025, via DLR.

Verified fact High-Tech Agenda goals include at least one European AI gigafactory in Germany and at least two error-corrected quantum computers "at European top level" by 2030; the biotechnology strand aims for a role in an EU biotech partnership by 2027.

Analysis Her positions on EU regulation, for example the AI Act or the Chips Act, are not documented in the research baseline. Beyond the 2018 data-protection remark, this page therefore records no stance on European rule-making.

Analysis Her European profile is built mainly on funding commitments rather than regulatory positions. See European technology policy.