The invention relates to an actuation system for a drive unit of a motor vehicle, having a drive control unit (1) which is assigned to the drive unit and which has a function level (3) and a function monitoring level (4), a first data transmission device (5) which is arranged in the function level (3), and is connected to a separate external control unit (2) via a first communication path (A) via which a predefined setpoint torque (Msoll) can be forwarded from the external control unit (2) to the first data transmission device (5).The object of the invention is to provide a highly available actuation system.According to the invention, the object is achieved in that the drive control unit (1) has a second data transmission device (6), and is additionally connected to the external control unit (2) via a second communication path (B), wherein the predefined setpoint torque (Msoll) can be forwarded from the external control unit (2) to the second data transmission device (5) via the second communication path.