ALLEMAGNE PERSPECTIVE

Germany approaches America's AI legislative framework with the methodical rigor and caution characteristic of its journalism, but also with growing internal tension between its ordoliberal regulatory reflexes and its industrial competitiveness anxieties. The federal Cabinet approved the AI Act implementation bill on February 11, 2026, transmitted to the Bundesrat on February 13. This timing is significant: Germany is rushing to be ready before the August 2026 deadline, even as Washington deliberately chooses to create no equivalent structure. Der Spiegel and FAZ analyze this gap with barely veiled concern, aware that the Bundesnetzagentur, designated as AI market surveillance authority, lacks both the resources and expertise of American sector-specific agencies.

The economic and industrial prism dominates German coverage, faithful to a country where automotive, chemical, and mechanical engineering are the pillars of prosperity. Die Zeit and Handelsblatt question the consequences of the Trump framework for the Mittelstand — those export-oriented SMEs that form the backbone of the German economy and will need to comply with the AI Act while competing with American rivals freed from such constraints. The Suddeutsche Zeitung notes with rare irony that Germany 'regulates what it doesn't produce' — no world-scale generative AI model being developed in Germany.

The main blind spot in German coverage is the geopolitical dimension of AI competition. Where French media speaks of a 'war of norms' and American media of 'tech dominance,' German outlets remain mired in the technical aspects of regulatory compliance. The Zeitenwende has not yet reached technology policy. Germany continues treating AI regulation as an administrative law issue rather than a power stakes question — a blindness that contrasts with the brutal pragmatism of Washington and Beijing.