Federal Cabinet approves key points for bureaucracy relief law

The Bureaucracy Reduction and Growth Opportunities Acts are intended to reduce the bureaucracy burden on businesses by €2,3 billion. The skilled trades sector is disappointed by the key provisions adopted. They fall far short of their potential.

This article is part of the special topic Bureaucratic madness in the craft industry

The Federal Cabinet has agreed in Meseberg the key points for the fourth Bureaucracy Reduction Act (BEG IV) was passed. Federal government wants to "Bureaucratic thicket" which is now difficult to penetrate. The bureaucratic hurdles have now become a Investment barrier especially for medium-sized companies. Procedures should be accelerated, bureaucracy reduced and, if possible, no new ones created," says the Ten point plan the government to strengthen Germany as a business location.

The BEG IV is part of the plan to competitiveness Together with the measures also agreed during the cabinet meeting, Growth Opportunities Act The BEG IV is intended to relieve the economy of bureaucratic ballast equivalent to 2,3 billion euros off the shoulders. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) speaks of a trend reversal: "Away from ever-increasing bureaucracy, towards relief and new freedom for economic activity."

Bill before the end of this year

The measures are intended to Bureaucracy cost index to its lowest level since its survey began. This year A draft bill for the bill is expected to be presented by 2020. Buschmann also intends to continue reducing bureaucracy after this: "Reducing bureaucracy is not a one-off, isolated project, but a process in which we have to stay on the ball." The key points of the relief law were also based on a Association query in which 57 associations participated and submitted 442 proposals.

The key issues paper provides for these innovations: Information requirementsThese will be reviewed for relevance, harmonization opportunities, and other approaches to easing the burden on small and medium-sized businesses. The information obligations in energy law, foreign trade law, metrology and calibration, as well as in the context of economic statistics, trade and craft regulations, and industry- and profession-specific regulations will be examined.

Retention periods: The retention periods for accounting documents under commercial and tax law are to be reduced from ten to eight years.

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

Written form requirements: Electronic form is to become the standard form in the German Civil Code (BGB). Therefore, numerous written form requirements are to be abolished as far as possible. Legal transactions are also to be simplified and digitized as much as possible for businesses and citizens.

Employment contracts: The Evidence Act is to create a provision according to which, as is already the case with written employment contracts, the employer's obligation to provide evidence of the essential contractual terms and conditions will no longer apply if and to the extent that an employment contract was concluded in a legally required electronic form that replaces the written form. The same should apply to amendment contracts concluded in electronic form in the event of changes to essential contractual terms and conditions. The economic sectors and industries listed in Section 2a, Paragraph 1 of the Act to Combat Illegal Employment are to be exempted.

Working hours: The regulation on issuing employment references in Section 630 of the German Civil Code (BGB) should also be made electronic. The Working Hours Act and the Youth Employment Protection Act should be amended to ensure that employers fulfill their respective posting obligations even if they make the required information available electronically via the information and communication technology commonly used in the company or office (such as the intranet), provided that all employees have free access to the information.

Food Information Implementing Regulation: The digital format should be made available for the written records required to be kept on allergens contained in bulk products pursuant to Section 4, Paragraph 4 of the Food Information Implementation Regulation (LMIDV). This also applies to mandatory information on food additives and flavorings contained in bulk products, as the relevant requirements refer to the LMIDV regulations for the type and manner of labeling.

Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act: The written form requirement in the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act for applications for a reduction in working hours and their rejection as well as for the assertion of the entitlement to parental leave is to be replaced by text form.

Coastal Shipping Regulations: The Coastal Shipping Ordinance, which requires seagoing vessels from outside the EU to obtain a permit for domestic transport in German coastal waters, is to be abolished. This will relieve the industry and the Directorate-General for Waterways and Shipping of approximately 150 administrative procedures per year. The requirements for issuing the permit have so far been met in over 90 percent of cases.

Acceleration of construction work on rail infrastructure: In order to professionally standardize the assessment of species protection law with regard to selected species that are particularly relevant to the railway sector, authorizations for the issuance of administrative regulations specifying the standards will be created. The scope of protection for the affected species will not be reduced.
Source: Federal Ministry of Justice

In addition, the Cabinet has prepared a discussion paper for an initiative to Reducing bureaucracy at European level It is intended to serve as a basis for future negotiations with the EU. "The cause of the bureaucratic burnout of our companies is not only at national level It is also being fuelled by the European level," said Buschmann. Existing instruments for better regulation, and especially impact assessments, should more consistent The paper also encourages a Inventory of bureaucratic costs at EU level.

Joint initiative with France

The focus should be on small and medium businesses They are to be relieved through a series of measures. The Federal Government is seeking the Close cooperation with the French government and wants to coordinate with it. The aim is to joint action Buschmann: "We need acceleration and relief without sacrificing necessary protection standards. To this end, we would now like to work with our French partners at the European level to joint bureaucracy reduction initiative and for a corresponding package of measures from European Commission advertise."

Impulse paperThe discussion paper proposes conducting an inventory of bureaucratic costs at the EU level. Similar to the German model, a bureaucracy cost index could be established to reflect cost trends. Furthermore, reporting obligations should be reduced to a necessary minimum and duplicate reporting obligations should be eliminated. It is also important to further advance digitalization and consistently consider it in the legislative process. The Federal Government therefore proposes consistently subjecting new EU law to effective digital checks in order to improve the quality of legislation at the EU level.

The craft industry reacts disappointed on the cabinet's key points paper. While it is a good signal for businesses, after two years of announcements and promises, it is also long overdue. Despite the long wait, the paper falls far short of its potential, explains Holger Schwannecke"Crafts businesses rightly expect a real relief impulseAll departments are requested to to refillThe time for hesitation must finally be over, there needs to be a recognizable stronger political will and more determination than before," says the Secretary General of the Central Association of German Crafts.

Real rethinking required

The announced initiative to work together with France to achieve relief is a right stepMany burdens come from Europe and are often insurmountable hurdles for the companies. "Here is a real rethinking required. It is urgently needed noticeable reliefthat actually reach the companies in practice," demands Schwannecke. Because the excessive bureaucracy in already economically difficult times has the effect of additional brake on growth.

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