German Law Insights

What our German law insights cover

Our German law insights are short, practical articles on German and EU business law, written for the people who have to act on them: general counsel, managing directors, CFOs, HR directors, investors and in-house lawyers in Germany and abroad. Each article takes one question (a new statute, a threshold, a procedure, a court decision or a recurring transaction issue) and explains what the law says, what has changed, and what a business should do about it. The collection currently comprises around 400 articles across fifteen categories, from corporate and M&A to energy and climate, and it is updated as legislation and case law develop.

The articles complement our practice pages. A practice page such as works councils and co-determination rights gives an overview of a whole field; an insight goes deeper into one topic within it, such as the conduct of works council elections or the co-determination rights that apply when an employer introduces an AI tool. You can filter the insights by category, by practice, by sector and by court, and every article links back to the relevant practice page and to related insights so that you can follow a topic as far as you need.

The articles are written in English and German. German is the main language of this site; English versions are written for international readers who need to understand German law without reading the statutes in the original. Where a German term has no exact English equivalent, we give the German term in italics on first use, for example Betriebsrat (works council) or Eigenverwaltung (debtor-in-possession proceedings), so that readers can recognise it in correspondence, court documents and registers.

Categories of German law insights

The insights are organised into fifteen categories that mirror the way businesses encounter legal questions. The table below summarises the categories and the practice pages they connect to.

Some topics belong to more than one category. An article on investment screening in a venture capital round, for example, is relevant to corporate lawyers, competition and trade specialists and the technology sector. We assign each article to one primary category and tag it with further practices and sectors so that the filters find it from every relevant angle.

Filtering by practice, sector and court

Categories are only one way into the collection. The practice filter follows the structure of our practice pages, so that a reader interested in, say, foreign investment control sees every article touching on it, whether it sits in the competition, corporate or sector category.

The sector filter collects articles relevant to particular industries, such as automotive and mobility, manufacturing and the Mittelstand, financial services, insurance, life sciences, chemicals, energy and utilities, technology and media, retail and consumer goods, and defence and space. The court filter lets litigation teams and in-house lawyers follow the case law of a specific court, from the Federal Court of Justice and the Federal Labour Court to the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Unified Patent Court.

Filters can be combined. A human resources director in an automotive supplier might combine the employment practice with the automotive sector; a patent counsel might combine the IP category with the UPC court filter.

How we write German law insights

We write German law insights to a consistent editorial standard so that readers can rely on the structure and the citations. Every article answers its question directly in the first section, then explains the legal framework, the practical consequences and the steps a business should consider. Where a topic involves thresholds, deadlines or fines, we present them in a table with the statutory provision for each figure. Illustrations are clearly marked as hypothetical.

We rely on primary sources. Statutes are cited from the consolidated texts published by the Federal Ministry of Justice on gesetze-im-internet.de and, for legislation in progress, from the official records of the Bundestag and Bundesrat and the Federal Law Gazette. EU law is cited from EUR-Lex. Court decisions are cited from the courts' own websites, and authorities' guidance from the authorities themselves, such as the Federal Cartel Office, BaFin, the Federal Office for Information Security or the data protection authorities. We do not rely on secondary summaries for legal statements.

Where legislation is still in progress, such as amendments to the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the transposition of EU directives or reforms in energy law, we state the status as of the latest primary source we checked and the date of that source. Readers should always check whether a later amendment has been adopted before relying on an article, particularly where deadlines are close.

Structure of an article

Most articles follow the same sequence. A short standfirst states the question and the answer. Key takeaways summarise the points a busy reader needs. The body then explains the legal background, the details that matter in practice, and the options or steps available, followed by a section of frequently asked questions and a list of the primary sources used. This structure makes it easy to skim an article for the answer and then read further where the details matter for your case.

Court decision explainers

The Court Decisions category contains explainers on judgments and orders that change practice for businesses in Germany. Each explainer sets out the facts, the holding, why the decision matters and what it means for contract drafting, compliance or litigation strategy. We cite the court, the type of decision, the date and the file number, and link to the decision on the court's own website, so that readers can check the reasoning themselves. Where a decision has been reported only in a press release and the full text is not yet published, we say so.

Worked examples

Many questions are easier to understand with an example. Where we use one, it is marked as an illustration and is entirely hypothetical: it does not describe a client, a mandate or a real company. Figures in illustrations are chosen to show how a rule works, for example how a headcount threshold is calculated or how a deadline runs, not to suggest typical outcomes.

Reading German legal citations

International readers often find German legal citations unfamiliar. Our German law insights use the German conventions, adapted slightly for English. Statutory provisions are cited by section (Paragraph, abbreviated §) and the abbreviation of the statute: "§ 1 KSchG" refers to section 1 of the Protection Against Dismissal Act (Kündigungsschutzgesetz). Subsections (Absätze) appear in brackets and sentences after them, so "§ 15a(1) InsO" refers to subsection 1 of section 15a of the Insolvency Code. Several sections are cited with "§§", for example "§§ 305–310 BGB" for the rules on standard business terms in the Civil Code. EU legislation is cited by article: "Article 83 GDPR".

Court decisions are cited by court, type of decision, date and file number (Aktenzeichen). The file number identifies the senate and the type of proceedings. Some examples of the format, with the courts most frequently cited in our articles, are set out below.

Lower courts appear in our articles as well: the Amtsgericht (local court), Landgericht (regional court) and Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court), and in specialised jurisdictions the labour, fiscal, administrative and social courts. Since 1 April 2025, the federal states can establish Commercial Courts (the statute uses the English term) at Higher Regional Courts for business disputes from EUR 500,000 under § 119b of the Courts Constitution Act (GVG); our page on Commercial Courts and English-language proceedings explains them.

Themes in German law insights for 2026

Several developments run through our German law insights in 2026. In employment law, the regular works council elections take place between 1 March and 31 May 2026 under § 13(1) of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG), and the statutory minimum wage rose to EUR 13.90 per hour on 1 January 2026, with a further step to EUR 14.60 on 1 January 2027 under the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance. Our article on works council elections 2026 explains the procedure.

In tax, the corporate income tax rate is set to fall from 15% in stages from 2028 to 10% from 2032 under § 23(1) of the Corporation Tax Act; see corporate tax rate cut from 2028. In cybersecurity, Germany's implementation of the NIS2 Directive through the new BSI Act has brought registration, risk-management and reporting obligations to many companies that were not previously regulated. In compliance and ESG, the EU's simplification agenda and the planned reform of the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act are changing reporting and due diligence obligations; our article on the LkSG reform tracks the status.

In disputes, the Commercial Courts and the possibility of conducting proceedings in English are changing how parties draft dispute resolution clauses. In competition law, the transaction-value threshold and the Federal Cartel Office's practice remain central to deal planning; see the transaction-value threshold in German merger control. In data protection, fines and damages claims after the CJEU's case law continue to shape enforcement; see CJEU Deutsche Wohnen on GDPR fines against companies.

Further themes cut across categories. Restructuring practice continues to develop around the preventive restructuring framework of the StaRUG and its cross-class cram-down; see cross-class cram-down under the StaRUG. Patent owners and defendants are adjusting their strategies to the Unified Patent Court, where German local divisions handle a large share of the caseload. In real estate, the text-form requirement for long-term commercial leases has changed how lease amendments are documented. In energy law, grid connection reform, battery storage and the planned reform of renewable energy support are central to investment decisions.

• Employment: works council elections, pay transparency, minimum wage, AI at work.
• Tax: corporate tax cut, investment incentives, minimum tax, e-invoicing.
• Compliance and ESG: supply chain due diligence, sustainability reporting, whistleblowing.
• Digital: NIS2 and the BSI Act, the Data Act, the AI Act timetable.
• Disputes: Commercial Courts, English-language proceedings, collective redress.

Using the insights with our practice pages

The best way to use the collection is to start with the practice page for your question and then go into the insights linked from it. If you are planning an acquisition, begin with corporate M&A and move to the articles on locked-box pricing, W&I insurance or notarisation. If you are preparing for a works council negotiation, begin with employment and pensions. If your question concerns data protection or cybersecurity, start with data protection, IT and digital.

For an overview of the figures most often needed in practice, such as capital requirements, co-determination thresholds and filing deadlines, see our thresholds at a glance, and for terminology our German legal glossary.

International readers who are new to Germany may find it useful to read a few foundational articles first: the role of the German notary in transactions, the choice between a GmbH, AG and branch, and the basics of employment protection and co-determination. These topics come up in almost every engagement and explain many of the differences between German practice and that of common-law jurisdictions.

In-house teams use the insights in different ways: as a briefing before an internal meeting, as background for a board paper, as a starting point for a policy update, or to explain a German rule to colleagues in a group headquarters abroad. The articles are designed to be shared within an organisation, and their sources allow a reader to verify each statement without relying on our summary.

Because the German law insights are updated as the law changes, it is worth returning to an article before relying on it in a later project. Updates are made in the article itself, so the link you saved remains valid, and significant changes to the legal position are noted in the text.

We welcome suggestions for topics. If a question comes up repeatedly in your organisation and you think others would benefit from a clear explanation, let us know.

How TRW & Co helps

The German law insights show how we think about legal questions: start from the statute and the leading decisions, explain the practical consequences, and say clearly what a business should do. When an article raises a question about your own situation, we can help apply the law to your facts, review documents and processes, and advise on next steps across corporate, finance, restructuring, employment, tax, antitrust, compliance, disputes, IP, data, real estate, energy and commercial law. We work with in-house teams in Germany and abroad and adapt our advice to the decisions you need to take. To discuss a question raised by one of our articles, please contact us.