"Bureaucracy burnout" - Laws put to the test: where bureaucracy reduction has failed so far
"(...) the obligation to register (...) can also be fulfilled (...) by the accommodated person using their identity card (...), their eID card (...) or their residence permit (...) for on-site reading." Article 1, para. 1a of the Bureaucracy Reduction Act III
Filing folders full to bursting and up to eight years of processing time - there is currently no new wind turbine in Germany without them. This is because, for example, each of the 15 or so heavy transports required for construction has to be approved by the federal, state and local authorities, depending on the route. And each permit comprises a folder of up to 200 pages. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) recently diagnosed companies in Germany with a "bureaucracy burn-out".
Bureaucracy Relief Act IV is intended to provide a remedy by the first half of 2024 at the latest. The number four makes it clear: Buschmann is not the first minister to attempt to reduce red tape. Between 2016 and 2019, the topic has already spawned three Bureaucracy Relief Acts (BEG). They should lead to less paperwork, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, as bureaucracy costs companies billions every year.
A practical example: until 2020, accommodation providers had to have a registration form filled out by hand at check-in. The BEG III made it possible to implement this reporting obligation electronically, which means a reduction of 52 million euros per year for the hospitality industry. This is according to the National Regulatory Control Council, an independent body of experts that monitors the reduction of bureaucracy, in its 2020 annual report.
"Tackling symptoms and not systemic causes"
The crux of the matter: new regulations mean that the simplifications that have been created so far have been wasted. At the forefront of this are the Supply Chain Act and the recalculation of property tax. In the case of the latter, the bureaucratic costs for the economy are estimated at up to 100 million euros. It currently follows the pattern of "two steps forward and (at least) one step back". "This is fighting symptoms and not systemic causes," criticizes Christoph Knill, administrative and political scientist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
The bureaucracy cost index, which the black-yellow government introduced in 2012, also shows how muddled the situation is. The Federal Statistical Office is supposed to use this index to depict the burden placed on companies by government regulations. Starting value: 100. The lowest value to date was 96.96 in January 2022. The current value: 98.41. Hence the burn-out.
Poor test result
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Germany's Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has highlighted the issue of "bureaucracy burn-out" in the country, underlining that reducing bureaucracy has been a focus for several ministers, including the enactment of three Bureaucracy Relief Acts (BEG) between 2016 and 2019.Despite efforts to reduce bureaucracy, new regulations such as the Supply Chain Act and the recalculation of property tax have resulted in an increase in bureaucratic costs, according to criticisms from experts like Christoph Knill, an administrative and political scientist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
Source: www.stern.de
