The German city council is urging the federal government to make a comprehensive reform of the Kritis rooftop law in order to increase the security of critical infrastructure in Germany. President Burkhard Jung (SPD) told the “Rheinische Post” on Thursday that a greater number of cities should have the means to protect their critical infrastructure assets. He appealed to the Bundesrat to call a mediation committee on the Kritis rooftop law and to lower the proposed threshold of 500,000 residents to no less than 150,000.
In addition, the mayor of Leipzig said that arson attacks on electricity supply and railway lines, as well as cyber‑attacks on data centres, demonstrate how essential emergency preparedness and protection measures are. He argued that it is good that a Kritis rooftop law will finally be tackled, but that a blanket threshold of 500,000 residents for classifying, for example, power or water utilities as critical infrastructure is still far too high.
Jung said no one is able to justify why facilities that are smaller but still serve a large number of people should not receive special protection. Facilities with a smaller catchment area can also be targets of attacks. While a flex‑i‑clause is planned, “the threat of a patchwork solution remains; we need an effective nationwide regulation” he added.
In early February the Bundestag passed the law, but it still requires the Bundesrat’s approval, which will be discussed on Friday. The relevant committees have already recommended rejecting the bill in its current form.