Berlin – They finally managed it! After the agreement to end the citizen's income for Ukrainian refugees, the coalition has reached another agreement: The dispute over the new military service law, which has been simmering for months, has been settled – according to BILD, the parliamentary groups of the CDU/CSU and SPD resolved their conflict with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius this evening.

Main result according to BILD information:

▶︎ In the future, all 18-year-old men will have to undergo a conscription medical examination! If not enough volunteers are found among those deemed fit for military service, a lottery will be held to determine who joins the armed forces!

The double lottery system is off the table; instead, there will be a physical conscription examination. This was the original agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD in the Bundestag – much to the minister's displeasure. According to the plan, first a lottery would determine who in each year group would be required to undergo conscription – and if there weren't enough volunteers, additional candidates would be selected by lottery.

The parliamentary groups are to be informed of the agreement at 8 a.m. on Thursday. The press will be informed afterwards.

CSU MP Thomas Erndl (51), who negotiates on military service for the Union, had already indicated on Monday:"If the number of volunteers, the growth of the reserve or the growth path for active duty personnel is not sustainably achieved, then as a last resort, compulsory conscription aligned with the needs of the armed forces will be necessary."

Pistorius is expected to present a clear personnel plan.

But that would only have resolved part of the dispute between the minister and the governing parties. According to unconfirmed information from within the parliamentary groups, Pistorius is said to have conceded to the government parties' demands for a sound personnel plan ("troop increase") for the Bundeswehr.

It remained unclear overnight on which other points the parliamentary groups and the minister had reached an agreement – for example, regarding the super-short-term soldiers planned by Pistorius. These soldiers are to undergo minimal training without combat training for building security duties. The CDU/CSU, in particular, had accused Pistorius of wanting to use these security guards to manipulate the new recruit statistics.

The original draft law from the SPD and CDU/CSU proposed a four-stage plan: First, young men were to volunteer for conscription. If not enough volunteers came forward, a lottery system would be used to determine who would ultimately be drafted.

However, Pistorius rejected this concept in a fit of rage during an SPD parliamentary group meeting in mid-October – he felt sidelined. Since then, negotiations have resumed with the four-member defense policy team from the governing parties: Siemtje Möller (42) and Falko Droßmann (51) for the SPD, and Norbert Röttgen (60) and Thomas Erndl (51) for the CDU/CSU. The talks are ongoing.