As data protection enforcement is spread across 18 different authorities in Germany, there have been calls for many years for simplification and harmonization regarding the application of the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR) requirements, especially to ensure a more innovation-friendly regime. According to a survey conducted by the digital industry association Bitkom(1), 65% of companies see the inconsistent interpretation of data protection law in Germany as an obstacle to digitization. It is therefore not surprising that according to the German government’s coalition agreement, there is need for a reform of the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, BDSG) to strengthen enforcement and coherence of data protection across Germany. In this article we look at the most important of the planned changes, identify the areas not taken up so far, and also reflect on the German regulators’ comments on the draft bill.