• Nine out of ten companies are calling on the next federal government to digitalise the state and public administration
• Bitkom publishes position paper on reducing bureaucracy

The German economy is calling on the next federal government to take short-term measures to reduce bureaucracy and modernise public administration. In a recent representative survey conducted by the digital association Bitkom among 603 companies with 20 or more employees, 87 per cent cited the digitalisation of the state and public administration as the most important topic. Other key tasks for the federal government from the business perspective include reducing reporting requirements (68 per cent) and introducing digital identities (63 per cent). Against this backdrop, Bitkom has now presented a position paper with more than 40 specific proposals for reducing bureaucracy and modernising and digitalising the administration. ‘Although every government promises to reduce bureaucratic requirements, the number of these requirements is increasing year on year – our administrations need a fresh start,’ says Bitkom President Dr. Ralf Wintergerst. ’Investments in the digitalisation of administration and digital identities are genuine investments in the future, from which citizens and the economy will benefit.’

The Bitkom proposals, entitled ‘Reducing bureaucracy: structural and sustainable’, focus on three areas: firstly, reducing bureaucracy where it goes too far; secondly, preventing bureaucracy from arising in the first place; and thirdly, developing a service-oriented administration that efficiently implements the necessary minimum level of bureaucracy. The paper also makes specific suggestions as to where the next federal government can start immediately, for example by avoiding the so-called ‘gold-plating’ of European regulations. This term refers to a common practice in Germany whereby EU requirements are exceeded or extended when they are transposed into German law, which regularly results in additional work for companies, the administration and the population.

But simpler, standardised and digital procurement would also immediately reduce the bureaucratic burden, for example by allowing contracts up to €50,000 to be carried out on online marketplaces or by enabling direct contracts up to €100,000 to be awarded to start-ups and particularly innovative companies. Where reporting requirements are necessary, specifications should be standardised and multiple authorities should be able to reuse data that has already been submitted to one agency. Red tape could also be reduced by abolishing written form requirements and making digital communication with authorities the norm. An annual Bureaucracy Relief Act that takes up proposals for relief from companies, associations and citizens would also help to ensure that bureaucracy reduction is seen as an ongoing task. ‘The next federal government can achieve immediate success in reducing bureaucracy; the proposals are on the table. All that is needed is the will and determination to implement them,’ said Wintergerst.

The position paper “Bureaucracy reduction: structural and sustainable” with all the proposals is available to download at: www.bitkom.org/Bitkom/Publikationen/Buerokratieentlastung-strukturell-und-nachhaltig