Reducing bureaucracy: Bakers make concrete proposals

The bakery trade has repeatedly called on politicians to reduce excessive bureaucratic burdens. Now, it is presenting 32 proposals that it says can be implemented quickly.

This article is part of the special feature on bureaucratic madness in the skilled trades.

The German Bakers' Confederation is demanding that the federal government deliver on its promise to reduce bureaucracy . A corresponding relief package must be implemented swiftly. The confederation has now put forward concrete proposals to this end. In a 15-page document, it outlines 32 measures that it believes can be implemented quickly , including changes to federal and EU law.

Michael Wippler Photo: © Central Association of the German Bakery Trade eV

"In discussions with businesses, we are currently being told that they now find the bureaucratic burden that has accumulated in recent years overwhelming and completely unacceptable ," the document states. "At our grassroots level, there is now a demand to reduce the current laws by 30 percent in order to be able to operate economically," explains Michael Wippler, President of the Bakers' Association.

Noticeable relief required

The problem is not individual regulations, but the sheer number of obligations and tasks that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to fulfill. Wippler: "As we know, the dose makes the poison. In the current situation, with significantly increased energy, raw material and personnel costs, inflation and the shortage of skilled workers, small and medium-sized businesses in particular urgently need further, tangible relief ."

32 proposals. Here you will find the bakers' association's paper with its detailed demands . So far, the government has not been able to achieve much in terms of reducing bureaucracy . "Therefore, we demand that the bureaucratic burden be noticeably reduced with the planned Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act . The baking trade finally needs an effective streamlining of bureaucracy," said Wippler. Key demands include the abolition of the written requirement for employment contracts, electronic sick leave certificates, compliance with the EU Packaging Regulation, allergen information, and streamlined planning and approval procedures.

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Problems for smaller businesses

Gitta Connemann was appointed Bread Ambassador in May 2022. Photo: © Central Association of the German Bakery Trade

The baking trade is receiving support from the Federal Chairwoman of the SME and Economic Union , Gitta Connemann (CDU): "The sheer number of regulations, fees, and prohibitions is making life difficult for bakeries. This is almost impossible for smaller businesses to manage . There needs to be a real shift in policy and administration. Every additional bureaucracy or financial burden harms companies and their employees. Now is not the time for ideology and red tape, but for planning security and relief ."

Proposals for changes to federal law:

• Delete the written form requirement for employment contracts and allow text form,
• get the electronic certificate of incapacity for work up and running,
• Make the Whistleblower Protection Act less bureaucratic,
• Introduce Germany’s speed limit for all planning and approval procedures,
• abolish the obligation for SMEs to appoint company data protection officers,
• Packaging Act: Remove nonsensical obligations regarding packaging licensing,
• Food labelling: create exemptions for SMEs,
• Food Information Regulation: Take into account derogations provided for by the EU in national implementation,
• Modernise allergen information for consumers,
• Obligation to issue receipts: Introduce a de minimis limit and make it dependent on the customer’s request,
• Reintroduce the small business clause in the documentation requirement for occupational health and safety,
• Only require risk assessments on an ad hoc basis,
• Abolishing the risk assessment according to the Industrial Safety Ordinance after the purchase of new work equipment, at least for SMEs,
• Provide exceptions to the recording and documentation of working hours for SMEs and waive the documentation of working hours if the working hours are already recorded in business travel plans or in the employment contract,
• Postpone the due date of social security contributions to the 10th of the following month,
• Raising the thresholds and more frequent rotation of establishments in statistical reporting obligations,
• in the case of companies, limit the statistical survey to data that can be obtained from the company software,
• Commercial Waste Ordinance: Reduce documentation requirements,
• Disposal of food waste: exemption from registration and documentation requirements,
• Improve the Measurement and Calibration Ordinance,
• Extend the craftsmen exemption in the driving personnel regulations to all delivery journeys,
• Professional driver qualification: create exceptions for marginally employed and part-time drivers,
• abolish the obligation for employers to check driving licences,
• stop new, additional bureaucratic burdens for SMEs,
• Further development of the "one-in, one-out" rule,
• Treat bureaucracy reduction as a top priority.

Proposals for changes to EU law:

• Stop new, additional bureaucratic burdens for SMEs,
• make the planned EU Packaging Regulation suitable for SMEs,
• EU Wage Transparency Directive: exempt SMEs from reporting obligations,
• Data protection: adapt processing register,
• Data protection: converting information obligations into customer rights to information,
• Data protection: Adapt order processing.

According to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 57 associations submitted 442 proposals in response to its online survey on reducing bureaucracy . The Federal Statistical Office will now evaluate these proposals and create a ranking based on their potential for reducing red tape. Following this, the proposals will be discussed in a meeting of the State Secretaries' Committee to draft a bill for a new law on reducing bureaucracy . The parliamentary consultation process is expected to begin later this year.

Schwannecke calls for quick action

Holger Schwannecke Photo: © ZDH / Schuerring

It is long overdue for politicians to provide further impetus for reducing bureaucracy. "The prioritized compilation of numerous proposals from the skilled trades and other associations offers the ideal basis for the announced Bureaucracy Relief Act, because it contains proposals from practical experience , the implementation of which would quickly and noticeably reduce the bureaucratic burden on businesses, and usually without incurring additional costs," explains Holger Schwannecke.

The Secretary General of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts is now calling for swift action : "The proposals were already largely known at the beginning of the legislative period. We cannot afford to waste any more time that businesses simply don't have. Craft businesses must be given tangible and lasting relief , because unnecessary bureaucracy is more than just a nuisance. It stifles profitability and innovation and demonstrably discourages young people from starting or taking over a business."

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