The Federal Government believes that its commitment to cutting corporate bureaucracy costs by 25 percent could be “theoretically achieved in one step” through the newly approved reform package, according to Philipp Amthor, the State Secretary in the Digital Ministry.
This planned reporting relief law, according to Amthor, introduces a general legal clause that suspends existing reporting requirements. He clarified that this scope is not limited to ten or fifty mandates but covers a field numbering in the thousands. Amthor expressed hope that the law will be passed within this year, which would lead to an annual reduction of €16 billion in administrative costs for businesses. However, ministers retain the ability to specify which reporting requirements should remain through official ordinances.
Lutz Goebel, President of the National Standards Control Council (NKR), has cautioned against this, warning that there will be “huge resistance.” Many people within the ministries questioned, “Why should I abolish something that I myself created?” Goebel told the Handelsblatt that the government advisor insists on strict conditions for retaining any reporting duties. Furthermore, the head of the NKR criticized the lack of full cooperation in bureaucratic reduction, naming the environment, justice, and finance ministries as agencies that are falling short.
