The National Standards Control Council (NKR) has delivered a sharp critique of how the German federal government is implementing its modernization agenda.
“Nine great announcements were made, and many measures were defined, but that is not enough” said NKR chief Lutz Goebel in an interview with “Handelsblatt”. He warned that many initiatives lack clear direction: it is not always known who is specifically responsible for carrying them out or how progress will be monitored.
Goebel identified structural problems with the bureaucracy‑reduction efforts driven by the new Ministry for Digital and Modernization, headed by Karsten Wildberger of the CDU. “The steering is too weak” he explained. The portfolio principle-where ministries could block projects-has made reforms difficult, and he described the internal government forces as “gigantic”. At the same time, the NKR is calling for stricter rules on the so‑called “bureaucracy brake”. If a new law introduces additional bureaucratic costs, those costs must be fully offset in the future, even when the legislation originates from the EU. “If we seriously want to see bureaucracy cut, the EU share must be taken into account in full, not just proportionally” Goebel said. The Ministry of Digital and State Modernization did not comment on the matter when first asked.
The Foundation for Family Businesses is also pushing for deeper reforms. In an international study reported by “Handelsblatt”, scientists advocate for the use of “sunset clauses”. Under such clauses, regulations automatically lapse after a set period unless they are actively extended-a tool already in use in countries such as Australia and South Korea. Rainer Kirchdörfer, board member of the Foundation for Family Businesses and Politics, told “Handelsblatt”: “Wildberger’s ministry has conceived many good plans for bureaucratic reduction, but now it must be implemented, a wave must be rolled out, the pace must be accelerated”. He added that Wildberger’s ministry should not operate piecemeal but must “change the mindset across the entire system”.
