North Rhine-Westphalia adopts acceleration and relief package

The state cabinet has launched a package of over 30 measures for faster procedures, simpler processes and less bureaucracy.

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia has put together a second package of measures to accelerate and streamline processes, comprising more than 30 steps, aimed at speeding up procedures, simplifying procedures, and reducing bureaucracy. "The goal is to limit legal regulations to the necessary minimum and to provide people, businesses, and public administration with greater speed and transparency," the government stated.

Planned measures

Faster funding: Consistent digitalization, legal simplifications, and an automated, risk-based review process will significantly accelerate the management of mass funding programs. Initially – in the first quarter of 2026 – the pilot project will be implemented for the programs "progres.nrw – Low-Emission Mobility," "progres.nrw – Climate Protection Technology," and "Inclusion Voucher NRW." This will considerably reduce processing times and relieve the burden on granting authorities.

More digital communication in public administration: Initial reporting obligations and the requirement in some areas of administrative practice to complete certain procedures in formal written form are eliminated. Numerous other legal provisions replace the written form with the simpler text form, thus enabling communication via email, among other methods.

More time for school lessons: Schools are burdened with a significant time and personnel burden due to the numerous inquiries from school authorities. This negatively impacts classroom instruction. Therefore, all inquiries from school authorities will be reviewed and reduced to a minimum. This will free up more time for schools to focus on their most important task: providing education to students.

Faster recognition of professional qualifications: The recognition of foreign professional qualifications must not be delayed by lengthy translation processes. Therefore, the country will also accept English-language documents in future recognition procedures. Applicants will save money on translations and start their jobs significantly faster.

Practical check for crafts and the hospitality industry: Reducing bureaucracy can only succeed through close cooperation with the business community. For this reason, the state government regularly invites representatives from companies and permitting authorities to practical assessments to develop solutions for bureaucratic obstacles through dialogue. Following successful practical assessments of permitting procedures for electrolyzers and large-scale battery storage systems, this year's assessments will focus on the skilled trades and hospitality sector. In this way, the state government is simplifying the daily operations of businesses and concretely reducing bureaucracy at the local level.

Faster geothermal drilling: The state government is accelerating geothermal energy permitting processes. It is launching a practical review of the new Geothermal Energy Acceleration Act and developing a guideline to support project developers through each step of the process and provide clarity. The goal is also to connect all water authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia to the drilling notification portal in the medium term – for fully digital processes and significantly faster decisions.

Experimenting at the municipal level: It makes sense to test processes and procedures before implementing them permanently across the state. Conversely, it can be beneficial to deviate from existing regulations temporarily in individual cases at the municipal level. Open questions and potential implementation obstacles can then be assessed and resolved in a "small-scale, real-world setting." The state government will legally enable individual municipalities to test new solutions for municipal tasks on a temporary basis. The state will also review future legislative proposals to determine whether there is room for experimental clauses. With this measure, among others, the state government is beginning to implement the Federal Modernization Agenda, which the heads of government of the federal states agreed upon with the Federal Chancellor in December 2025.

Greater planning certainty for municipalities and investors: The state government is currently undertaking a fundamental revision of the state planning law. The existing submission and review process for regional plans will be limited to their function as landscape and forestry framework plans. This will eliminate duplicate reviews and halve the duration of legal review. Participation periods will be shortened and more closely aligned with specific needs. Spatial development plans will no longer be contestable due to procedural or formal errors if these do not affect the plan's content. This will create greater planning certainty for municipalities and investors.

Making Germany more attractive

"In close cooperation with the federal and state governments, we are pushing forward with the Federal Modernization Agenda so that the state can operate more digitally, quickly, and reliably. Germany must become a more attractive location for investment again. This creates and secures jobs. As the state government, we have a duty to exhaust all measures within our area of ​​responsibility that help our economy," explains Minister-President Hendrik Wüst (CDU).

Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur (Greens) says: "This is how we reduce bureaucracy in North Rhine-Westphalia. Faster, simpler, better. We are systematically dismantling excessive bureaucracy that nobody needs: streamlined, digital permits, easier access to funding, new practical checks. With this, we as the state government are sending a strong signal to people and businesses. The state is there for the people."

Source: NRW state government

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