In presenting his personal three-point action plan for the German economy, CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann stressed that medium-sized enterprises and traditional crafts require a clear signal of recovery.
Linnemann’s proposals center on significantly reducing administrative burdens. Regarding documentation requirements, he advocates for suspending all company reporting obligations for a period of three years. Instead of mandatory paper trails, he proposes adopting a simplified system built on robust controls and substantial penalties for violations. Using the analogy of road travel, he stated that just as one does not need to record evidence proving they drove at the legal limit in a designated zone, merely speeding carries a heavy punishment.
Furthermore, Linnemann calls for pausing all current analog statistical reporting duties until the government can provide a digital system. He criticized the current “paperwork jungle” arguing it generates unnecessary bureaucracy without providing valuable intelligence. He urged the state to capitalize on this opportunity to review all such regulations and ensure their continued relevance.
A third critical plank of his plan involves repealing the German Due Diligence Act, which mandates checks for environmental, human, and child rights throughout global supply chains. Linnemann argued that this German law should be immediately replaced with new EU regulations, noting that the change would offer massive relief, particularly to small and medium-sized businesses employing fewer than 5,000 workers. He pointed out that Germany would ultimately have to implement EU-level rules anyway, and these forthcoming regulations only apply to companies above 5,000 employees with annual revenues exceeding 1.5 billion euros.
Linnemann concluded by stating that the priority now must be giving strength to Germany’s competitiveness. He asserted that implementing his measures would not cost the state any money, and he challenged the coalition partners to provide the necessary political will to move his plan forward.
