“A bit like belly fat”
Ampel wants to tackle bureaucracy with a new law
March 13, 2024, 1:28 p.m
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The government is introducing measures to clear the thicket of regulations in Germany step by step. Justice Minister Buschmann praises the initiative as a first step towards reducing bureaucracy. It doesn’t go far enough for the industry.
The federal government wants to delete unnecessary regulations and thus reduce the bureaucratic burden for companies and citizens. The cabinet passed the planned Bureaucracy Relief Act IV, as the Federal Ministry of Justice announced. The planned changes affect different areas, such as the Commercial Code, the Sales Tax Act, the Federal Registration Act and the Maintenance Advances Act.
The relief volume for the economy is estimated at a good 944 million euros per year. That is over 260 million euros more than initially planned. Specifically, German citizens, for example, will soon no longer have to fill out registration forms in hotels. In addition, accounting documents should only have to be kept for eight years instead of ten years. Operating cost statements should also be digitized. In the future, travelers will have the option of presenting their passports digitally during flight clearance. The law still has to be discussed and passed by the Bundesrat and Bundestag.
The Ministry of Justice expects a tax loss of 200 million euros, of which 89 million will go to the federal government. Together with other measures from the traffic light government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP, the total relief volume for companies should be around five billion euros per year. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who is largely responsible for the issue in the traffic light government, praises the reduction in bureaucracy as a “free economic stimulus program”. He recently emphasized that the relief law was just one of the traffic light government’s many projects to reduce bureaucratic burdens.
Industry: Government misses “liberation strike”
From the point of view of business associations, the strong bureaucracy in Germany is one of the biggest problems for companies. Unlike the government, they haven’t noticed any improvement recently. The general manager of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Tanja Gönner, critically assessed the planned bureaucracy relief law. “While many companies cite high – and ever-growing – bureaucracy as a locational disadvantage, the federal government is missing out on a long-overdue relief with the draft of the fourth bureaucracy relief law,” she said.
The already few and far too small-scale measures fell far short of expectations. If federal ministries apparently lack the political will, practical instruments should at least be used. Cross-departmental practical checks incorporating entrepreneurial perspectives are suitable for reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
“Although there have long been numerous proposals for relief from business, only eleven of 442 proposals were addressed in the Bureaucracy Relief Act,” complained Gönner. “That’s not enough front and back.” In a position paper, the BDI proposes 17 projects to reduce bureaucracy and, in addition to other proposals for relief, calls for the effort of the national supply chain law to be reduced.
Buschmann had expressed understanding for the criticism that the planned law did not go far enough. Despite the planned relief, “the people in business are right, because we have of course achieved a world championship in terms of bureaucracy in Germany,” said the FDP politician in the ARD morning magazine. “It’s a bit like eating a belly of belly fat for years. You can’t get rid of it overnight with the push of a button. But we have to start. And the first step we’ve taken now is quite remarkable.” According to Buschmann, it is the largest bureaucracy relief package “that has ever existed in the history of this country.”