Deploying the Bundeswehr: more transparency, more flexibility, but Parliament’s consent remains key - The Rühe Commission’s final report Actuelles de l'Ifri, June 2015
Besides the often invoked historical dimension behind Germany’s strategic culture of restraint, there are today very tangible legal reasons that prevent assertive German military interventionism (which are, of course, directly linked to the historical dimension): any intervention of the German armed forces requires the Bundestag’s consent.
The current regulations have been confirmed by the German Constitutional Court on a number of occasions. In the spring of 2014, the German Bundestag implemented a Commission – headed by former minister of defense Volker Rühe – that was tasked to review the existing legal framework and to prepare recommendations intended to reconcile the Bundestag's right with a strengthened German ability to participate in multilateral cooperation.