The deadline of the Online Access Act (OZG) expires on December 31, 2022: By then, 575 administrative services should be available nationwide in digitized form. First of all, however, only the input masks – not very demanding – no fully digital further processing of the data.
The result has not yet been determined, but more than 55 administrative services will probably not have been digitized by the end of the year. So the OZG has failed in its current form! Digitization is the key to reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, streamlining processes and simplifying government services.
Germany is being left behind more and more, not only in terms of digitization. If we look at the bureaucracy, it keeps growing. Not only EU law or federal, state and local laws affect the economy, but also specifications from professional associations, chambers and technical standards. For the big companies this is an immense expense, for the small ones it can be ruin.
The ministries in Berlin are getting bigger with each legislative period. The interior and economic ministries each have seven state secretaries with a corresponding number of employees. The Chancellery is even supposed to double in size: I don’t hear any outcry about it anywhere.
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Bigger is not necessarily better – on the contrary. The larger the contraption, the more difficult it is to control and the more occupied it is with its own affairs. Therefore, the constant and sweeping call for more staff is counterproductive – especially since suitable applicants can no longer be found.
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My suggestion: There should only be new jobs for the simplification and digitization of all processes in the authorities, the rest has to be done from the existing ones.
“We have an employee market”
Another reason for growing bureaucracy is the pursuit of individual justice. This results in the permanent urge to regulate everything down to the last detail, instead of clearly naming the regulation goal without specifying possible solutions in detail and leaving the implementation to the local experts.
We need much faster approval procedures, and not just for wind turbines and LNG terminals, but also for bridges, roads and factory buildings. What is possible with renewable energies must also be made possible elsewhere.
The world of work has also changed completely: we have an employee market! Employees choose the company they want to work for, not the other way around. This cannot be seen at all in the legislation: Hardly a week goes by without new specifications being made down to the smallest detail, which in turn causes new bureaucracy.
Federalism in Germany is both a blessing and a curse. Today it is increasingly reaching its limits. To preserve it, we must reform it.
An example from administrative IT: Here, the federal government must make clear specifications for basic components and interfaces that the states and municipalities must adhere to. In this sense, the autumn should be used to bring all stakeholders to the table and to create the conditions for a successful “OZG 2.0”.
“Regulation in the repair shop”
The legislative process is becoming more and more hectic – this is at the expense of the quality and practicality of the law. The coalition partners discuss for a very long time in order to reach political agreement. Then, in no time at all, a law is written and introduced into parliament, sometimes with crazy deadlines of a few hours for the participation of experts from other departments, from associations and from those affected.
It has become the norm that the specified participation and consultation deadlines are no longer met. Then you can’t carry out a practice check, you can’t discuss alternatives and you can’t quantify the effects of a law.
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The law then comes into force, whatever the cost. The deficits only become apparent in practice, until case law or amendments to the law remedy the situation: regulation in the repair shop.
The digital check will come from 2023: Can the law be implemented digitally across the three levels of federal, state and local government? To do this, the ministries must describe the implementation process in detail and coordinate the interfaces with those affected – before the first paragraph is written.
This is how laws should generally be made in the future: More time for good regulation design makes implementation easier. Certainly no time-critical gas emergency law can be passed in this way, but most of the laws can!
In addition, significantly more laws should be limited in time so that a possible extension is preceded by examination and debate. The evaluation of the laws must generally have more consequences and can also include recommendations for complete or partial abolition because regulations do not do the right thing.
“Germany keeps falling in many rankings”
Public authorities are not companies, but they need to become more efficient. Today there are no incentives for it, on the contrary. That’s why we need audits in authorities and performance comparisons between states and municipalities: How long does it take to fill vacancies? How quickly can you found a company, how many authorities does the entrepreneur have to go to?
Best practices should be made more widely known and the best authorities should be recognized. There are many vacancies in government agencies. Through digitization, simple activities can be automated and work capacities can be used more productively.
It’s slowly dawning on us: Things can’t go on like today! Germany keeps falling in many rankings. At the same time, there is a risk that democracy will lose acceptance if the state and administration no longer meet people’s expectations.
Frustration is growing, especially among young people who are used to the comfort of private online services. And the urgently needed specialists from abroad? They are already thinking twice about going to complicated Germany. A contemporary, modern administration is a real location factor and a prerequisite for economic prosperity and social cohesion.
Can politics and administration reform themselves? Maybe we’re still doing too well for that. But the world around us does not sleep. Developments are increasingly disruptive: positions that have been lost are often gone forever.
If we want to maintain prosperity and stability in our country, we must change course now. The traffic light started as a modernization and future coalition. She must keep this promise.
Every avoidable minute of administrative effort, every euro saved in bureaucratic costs in companies, authorities and citizens helps to free up the resources and creative forces that this country needs to successfully master today’s major transformation issues. We need a real turning point and – as Roman Herzog once put it – a “jolt” that goes through Germany!
The author: Lutz Goebel is chairman of the National Regulatory Control Council.
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