Federal Cabinet passes bureaucracy relief law

The Bureaucracy Relief Act IV, passed by the federal government, is intended to reduce the burden on businesses by almost one billion euros annually. The ZDH welcomes this but calls for further measures.

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

"Today we are taking the next step in combating bureaucratic burnout ," announced Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) after the Federal Cabinet adopted his draft of the Fourth Act to Reduce Bureaucracy for Citizens, Businesses, and Administration (BEG IV). BEG IV is intended to relieve companies of €944 million annually. It is part of the deregulation package adopted by the Federal Government at its cabinet retreat in Meseberg in the summer of 2023.

Furthermore, the package includes the Growth Opportunities Act , the raising of the thresholds for determining company size categories under the Accounting Directive, an initiative to reduce bureaucratic burdens at the EU level together with France, and a comprehensive regulation to reduce bureaucracy at the regulatory level . All these measures are expected to save the economy more than three billion euros . "This makes the Mesberg resolutions the largest red tape program ever seen in Germany. As a result, the bureaucracy cost index falls to an all-time low ," Buschmann emphasizes.

Relief volume increased

The Ministry of Justice presented the draft bill in January of this year. The now-adopted draft provides for € 262 million more in relief . Originally, it was supposed to be €682 million annually. Buschmann: "This shows that the Federal Government has understood. The fourth phase of the BEG IV (Reduction of Bureaucracy) must be just the next step, not the last . Because cutting red tape is an economic stimulus program at no cost . We must further reduce, simplify, and streamline laws – there is agreement on this within the Federal Government. It's clear: cutting red tape must be a top priority during this legislative period."

These measures are plannedRetention periods are shortened: The commercial and tax retention periods for accounting documents such as copies of invoices, bank statements, and payroll records are to be reduced from ten to eight years. Companies can therefore dispose of the documents earlier than before, thereby saving considerable storage costs.

Central power of attorney database for tax advisory professions: In the future, tax advisors will be able to centrally deposit general powers of attorney in the area of ​​social security.

Hotel registration requirement is abolished: The hotel registration requirement for German citizens will be abolished.

Written form requirements are reduced: In the German Civil Code (BGB), the written form requirement is to be downgraded to text form, provided this is appropriate and appropriate. Unlike the written form, the text form does not require a handwritten signature: For example, an email, text message, or messenger message are also sufficient. Similar downgradings are planned in association law and corporate law, among others. For example, association members will in future be able to declare their consent to a resolution passed without a general meeting in text form. Shareholders of limited liability companies (GmbHs) will also be able to cast their votes in text form for resolutions passed outside of a general meeting if all shareholders agree. Furthermore, the written form requirements in the German Bond Act and the German Deposit Act will be downgraded.

Public auctions also possible online: The possibilities for conducting public auctions are to be expanded. In the future, they will also be able to take place either online via livestream or in a hybrid format (on-site and online).

Passenger handling can also be done digitally in the future: This will speed up processes at the airport. For the purpose of digital passenger processing, certain data can be read from the passport, with the traveler's express consent.

The deadline for comments is shortened: The period for public participation in authorisation procedures with environmental impact assessment, in which renewed public participation is required due to changes to the project, should be able to be shortened appropriately.
Source: BMJ

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"It is important that the Bureaucracy Relief Act is now being enacted," says Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens). He points to further relief through the almost finalized cross-departmental Bureaucracy Relief Ordinance . "At the same time, it is clear that we cannot stop here to achieve tangible relief. We must therefore supplement the fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act with further topic-specific relief packages ."

Expand practice checks

The minister announced that the increased use of practical checks by all ministries and federal states will become the second pillar of the bureaucracy reduction strategy . "We will therefore gradually roll out this instrument to other topics, particularly those relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as sustainability reporting, compliance officers, and data protection," said Habeck. Further simplifications will also be created for start-ups and innovative, socially responsible companies.

Further planned measures: Sustainable procurement is to be simplified with a procurement transformation package , designed to benefit regional and local companies. "We are eliminating the upstream approval process and random checks by the calibration authorities regarding software updates for smart meter gateways. We are consistently pursuing the development of a basic register for companies. In the future, companies will only have to submit their data to the authorities once." Furthermore, the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance is to be amended to allow for the electronic issuance of administrative acts in addition to written ones.

Crafts demand further measures

"The federal government is rightly intensifying its efforts to reduce bureaucracy and, in particular, is adopting the skilled trades' proposal for a largely complete abolition of the written form requirement for employers in the Proof of Employment Act. The direction taken is correct," commented Holger Schwanncke . However, the measures are far from sufficient to provide significant overall relief for skilled trades businesses, according to the Secretary General of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts . "An even clearer message of bureaucracy reduction is necessary." The potential for this exists, and the Bundestag is now called upon to pass further relief measures.

Andreas Brzezinski, Managing Director of the Saxon Chamber of Skilled Crafts, argues similarly : "From the perspective of skilled trades, the draft law is a step in the right direction . Nevertheless, in our opinion, the measures adopted are by no means sufficient to relieve micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to such an extent that these effects are actually noticeable in day-to-day business. After all, small players in the market have always been particularly disadvantaged compared to large companies due to a plethora of reporting, notification, and documentation requirements ."

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