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Theme specials Bureaucratic madness in the craft industry
For business trips and international assignments within Europe, a so-called A1 certificate must be carried. Lower Saxony wants to abolish this "bureaucratic monster" and is therefore launching an initiative in the Bundesrat.

For business trips and international assignments within Europe, a so-called A1 certificate must be carried. Lower Saxony wants to abolish this "bureaucratic monster" and is therefore launching an initiative in the Bundesrat (Federal Council). (Photo: © auremar/123RF.com)

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Bureaucratic madness in the skilled trades - special topics

Get rid of the bureaucratic monster A1 certificate!

Lower Saxony intends to launch an initiative in the Bundesrat to advocate for the abolition of the posting certificate required for work and business trips in other European countries.

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

"Better Singapore than Belgium." According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Dr. Bernd Althusmann hears this sigh of exasperation frequently when speaking with business owners. The reason given is that employees subject to social security contributions in the EU must present a so-called A1 certificate for temporary work assignments abroad . This certificate is also known as a " posting certificate ."

In 2017, over 300.000 posting certificates were issued nationwide. Processing by health insurance companies, pension funds, or professional pension schemes sometimes takes several weeks . This is particularly frustrating when an overseas assignment becomes necessary at short notice, but it's also unavoidable if the assignment only lasts a few hours or if there are frequent assignments within the same EU country: the posting certificate has to be applied for anew each time. As a result, overseas assignments are often no longer possible.

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Federal Minister of Economics has signaled interest

To abolish the " bureaucratic monster" that is the A1 certificate, German Economics Minister Dr. Bernd Althusmann intends to launch an initiative in the Bundesrat ( Federal Council). Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier has already signaled his interest. Althusmann stated: "If it's easier for German companies to service a machine in Singapore than in Belgium, then something is wrong. We need the free movement of people within the European Union, especially for businesses."

At the suggestion of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, foreign assignments of up to 14 days should be possible without any notification . Furthermore, a European online reporting platform should be introduced to simplify the application process.

Text: / handwerksblatt.de

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