Ten rules to avoid bureaucracy

Both the CDU and Green Party factions, as well as the FDP, in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament have submitted a motion calling for bureaucracy reduction. The skilled trades sector has commented on this, putting forward ten theses for avoiding bureaucracy.

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

Even in the new year, the burden of bureaucracy on businesses remains a dominant issue in North Rhine-Westphalian state politics. Right in the first week of sessions, a hearing will address various motions focused on reducing bureaucracy. One of these is a joint motion from the CDU and Green Party parliamentary groups in the state parliament . It is entitled: "For a future-proof and climate-neutral North Rhine-Westphalia – Consistently reduce excessive bureaucracy. Relieve the burden on businesses, strengthen the economic location, and accelerate transformation."

A second motion comes from the FDP parliamentary group and is entitled: "Counteracting the recession in North Rhine-Westphalia – implement bureaucratic relief now." In it, the group identifies a slowdown in economic output in recent months. They anticipate a recession this year that could fall below the national average. "The black-green state government, for its part, is not undertaking any structural measures to unleash the North Rhine-Westphalian economy," they accuse.

Relief impulse at state level

At the federal level, the FDP is pushing forward with a package of measures to reduce bureaucracy. Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of Justice has already presented the key points for the Bureaucracy Relief Act . "A corresponding stimulus for relief must now also be initiated at the state level to support businesses in North Rhine-Westphalia. To this end, the worst bureaucratic hurdles must first be identified through a survey of associations, involving the SME Clearing House , and then eliminated after a review and prioritization process ," the parliamentary group demands in its motion.

The FDP parliamentary group is calling for these measures (excerpt):

• In order to make bureaucratic burdens in North Rhine-Westphalia measurable, a continuous bureaucracy check in the form of a state-specific bureaucracy cost index based on the federal model should be introduced.
• A right of initiative must be introduced for the Clearing Office for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises so that small and medium-sized enterprises can submit proposals for bureaucratic relief to the state government at an early stage.
• A time limit should be introduced for all requirements and regulations within the framework of laws and regulations that give rise to compliance costs, so that they automatically expire after ten years.
• A one-in-two-out principle should become mandatory for all legal regulations in North Rhine-Westphalia: for every new burden on businesses, citizens and the administration, more relief must be provided elsewhere.
• European and federal legal requirements should be implemented one-to-one; additional country-specific requirements should be avoided.
• A best-practice approach must be introduced that requires all regulatory measures to be based on the simplest and most straightforward solution available in Germany.
• Funding bureaucracy must be reduced as much as possible and all funding programs and procedures must be designed to be transparent, low-bureaucracy and efficient for all user groups
• All potential for digitalization, standardization, and automation in administrative services must be leveraged to radically simplify administrative processes and reduce the workload on administrative staff. Where these potentials have been exhausted, skilled workers must be recruited in a targeted and needs-based manner.
• Sustainably simplify and accelerate planning and approval procedures in all areas.

The CDU and Green Party parliamentary groups also recognize the significant strain on Germany's economy, which is particularly affecting North Rhine-Westphalia. "It is the clear intention of the CDU-Green coalition to support economic actors with a smart and focused government framework ," the motion states. It also emphasizes that bureaucratic relief is " urgently needed " and can be implemented quickly. A consistent reduction in bureaucracy could improve the business environment for companies in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Reducing bureaucracy remains a permanent task

Bureaucracy must become less burdensome, more digital, faster, and more efficient for businesses and employees . "Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular, but also the self-employed, should be provided with favorable conditions." Reducing bureaucracy remains an ongoing task . Relieving businesses of bureaucratic burdens through deregulation promotes investment, secures jobs, and contributes to increasing the attractiveness of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location. "By consistently reducing bureaucracy, we strengthen the competitiveness of North Rhine-Westphalia and pave the way for more investment and innovation ."

The CDU and Green parliamentary groups are calling for these measures (excerpt):

• The state government should work at the federal level to ensure that the Bureaucracy Relief Act IV launches a comprehensive package of cross-sectoral measures that aligns the economic policy framework at the federal level with a view to easing the burden on the economy and, to this end, further accelerates planning and approval procedures, brings about improvements in tax and commercial law, reduces bureaucratic costs, and brings new impetus to administrative digitization and register modernization.
• It is intended to create internal, responsible departments within the authorities that will manage the coordination and digitalization of the processes of the relevant specialist authorities in an agile manner and support employees in their ideas for improvement and simplification.
• In North Rhine-Westphalia, it is intended to operate according to the "one-in-one-out" principle in order to prevent an increase in bureaucratic burdens for companies and to conduct a review of new regulatory proposals to determine which requirements are still needed and where bureaucratic costs can be reduced.
• It is intended to reduce the duration and complexity of procedures without lowering standards in environmental, nature and consumer protection.
• It should work to ensure that small businesses are specifically relieved of excessive bureaucratic requirements and record-keeping obligations, with particular emphasis on extending de minimis thresholds, waiving or, if necessary, bundling statistical queries, expanding the principle of notification of changes, and limiting reporting obligations for the respective business.
• It is intended to implement the "digital-only" principle enshrined in the Federal Online Access Act 2.0 as quickly as possible and to fully digitize all underlying processes.
• It is intended to further expand the "Wirtschafts-Service-Portal.NRW" as a central digital gateway for the economy, focusing on the seamless digitization of the underlying administrative processes, providing sufficient funding, and incorporating additional administrative services.
• The founding process should be significantly accelerated and reduced to the absolutely necessary level of administrative effort.

Handwerk.NRW has submitted a detailed statement regarding the applications in connection with the upcoming hearing. From the perspective of the skilled trades, bureaucratic burdens are a " distressing and growing problem " that persists despite numerous efforts to reduce obstacles . This affects not only businesses but also public administration and consumers. The association therefore welcomes all efforts to alleviate these burdens. "The skilled trades organizations have repeatedly submitted concrete proposals at both the federal and state levels for reducing these burdens ."

Repeated suggestions

The Central Association of German Crafts, as well as the North Rhine-Westphalia Crafts Association and the North Rhine- Westphalia Crafts Business Association, have repeatedly made proposals in recent years . These include, for example, the abolition of fees for routine inspections in the food trade, the abolition of the obligation to issue receipts with cash registers, the reduction of documentation requirements, the shortening of retention periods, practical retention regulations, and the reduction of statistical reporting requirements.

The NRW skilled trades are calling for these ten rules to avoid bureaucracy:

• No excessive detail: Law must be simple, reliable and predictable.
• "Only once": The state may request each piece of information from citizens and companies only once.
• "More regulation, less regulation": Clear rules are better than price interventions or fussy detailed regulations that awaken the bureaucratic monster.
• "Think about implementation": The state may only issue regulations whose compliance it can actually enforce itself as a supervisory authority.
• "Limit to one-to-one implementation": When implementing higher-ranking law, there must be no additional burden.
• "Think of the little ones first": The state may only make regulations that even the youngest affected can comply with.
• "Relieve rather than promote": Tax and regulatory relief generally helps small and medium-sized businesses more than subsidies, which inhibit innovation and create perverse incentives.
• "Let administration learn": In a complex world, legislators and administration cannot know everything in advance, but must develop regulation and supervision in parallel and cooperatively with users and establish an open culture of error.
• "He who orders must also pay": The political level that assigns a task to subordinate levels must also consistently bear responsibility for the costs.
• "No golden reins policy": Every political level needs sufficient autonomy over revenue and expenditure to avoid dependence on funding structures.

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