- Local government urges reduction of bureaucracy
The Association of Cities and Municipalities of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has urged the state government to finally take action on its promise of administrative simplification, also in its own interest. "The administration is already feeling the shortage of skilled workers. Instead of wanting to hire additional state personnel with great effort and money, it is high time to seriously look at where tasks can be reduced and procedures noticeably streamlined," said association manager Andreas Wellmann.
Pleasure in the award of grants
He advised the state government to follow the example of Saxony. There, for example, the procedures for state grants to municipalities have been noticeably simplified and thus also accelerated. The Minister of Finance has indeed taken up the suggestion of the municipal association with interest. "Because he sees how much personnel and thus also money is required for lengthy approval and complex review procedures. In addition, there are cost increases that arise from delays," explained Wellmann.
However, there appears to be much resistance from the specialist ministers. "They seem to enjoy being celebrated in the municipalities for grant promises, grant decisions, groundbreakings, and openings," Wellmann cited as a possible reason for the lack of reform will.
Distrust towards municipalities
He complained about growing distrust in the decision-making power and independence of municipalities. In addition, the state is increasingly burdening municipalities with new tasks, such as the implementation of the new procurement law. All this often still fuels frustration in cities and villages. "We urgently need a change of course in state policy," Wellman demanded.
Also, the economy of the state is increasingly complaining about excessive bureaucracy and sometimes years-long approval procedures. In the regular economic surveys, insufficient economic policy framework conditions are now named as one of the main reasons for the sluggish economy.
Schwesig for simpler implementation of EU and federal regulations
Minister President Manuela Schwesig (SPD) reaffirmed the state government's commitment to administrative simplification. "There are already some initiatives in the Bundesrat, and we ourselves are also examining as a state where we can streamline federal and EU rules in implementation," said the head of government. This was discussed again in one of the latest cabinet meetings.
Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU), visiting Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the beginning of August, refrained from giving advice to his colleague. "When I come to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, I ask myself, what can I learn. That's the beauty of federalism, that one has different approaches and thoughts and can learn a lot from each other," he said, but agreed with Schwesig that many of the criticized regulations do not originate from the federal states: "Every rule that is invented in Berlin or Brussels must be controlled, must be documented, must be sanctioned." Administrative simplification therefore primarily means reducing controls. "We have far too high a regulatory density," the Saxon Minister President concluded.
Effective implementation of simplification measures
Given the current shortage of skilled workers in the administration, it would be beneficial to prioritize the implementation of simplification measures in order to reduce redundant tasks and streamline procedures. As Wellmann mentioned, hiring additional state personnel can be a costly and time-consuming solution.
Inter-state collaboration in administrative simplification
The state government could consider learning from the successful administrative simplification efforts in Saxony, as suggested by Wellmann. By collaborating and sharing best practices with other federal states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern could accelerate its own process and address the shortage of skilled workers more effectively.
