Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will officially appoint the new members of the Regulatory Control Council. This marks the start of the fourth mandate of the independent advisory body.
(Photo: imago/blickwinkelImago)
Berlin It is intended to prevent unnecessary bureaucracy and to check the follow-up costs of laws for the economy, citizens and administration: the National Regulatory Control Council (NKR). Before the official appointment of the new advisory body this Tuesday evening, business is making its demands for reducing bureaucracy.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) expects the body to become “more powerful and visible” in its new mandate. “More and more regulations with ever new reporting obligations are weakening companies – in addition to high energy costs, delivery bottlenecks and a shortage of skilled workers,” said BDI boss Siegfried Russwurm to the Handelsblatt.
The previous “one in, one out” bureaucracy brake, according to which an existing regulation had to be deleted for each new regulation, had no noticeable effect. “In the future, politicians should delete two existing rules for every new rule,” Russwurm demanded. The federal government should also recognize European rules and the one-off compliance costs as bureaucracy costs.
The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) referred to a “dangerous mix of mounting burdens” and called for the economy not to be confronted with additional, often impractical requirements.
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DIHK President Peter Adrian told the Handelsblatt: “More and more companies are telling us how badly they are being affected by the current economic upheavals: Soaring energy prices, raw material shortages, supply chain problems, the consequences of sanctions and other market uncertainties are mutually reinforcing.” For new ones, even in the Target setting, perhaps even understandable bureaucracy, is therefore not the time now. “Therefore, an honest practice check for laws would be important, which would further develop the positive work of the Regulatory Control Council,” explained Adrian.
Steinmeier appoints members officially
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants to officially appoint the new members of the Regulatory Control Council this Tuesday evening. This marks the start of the fourth mandate of the independent advisory body.
The NKR monitors the federal government’s reduction in bureaucracy and supports better legislation. Specifically, he examines the draft laws for compliance costs and cost consequences for citizens, business and administration. From 2023, the committee should also be able to check the digital check announced by the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP. This is about the possibility of digital implementation of laws.
According to the will of the coalition, responsibility for the office for reducing bureaucracy, for better regulation and for the NKR no longer lies with the Federal Chancellery, but with Marco Buschmann’s (FDP) Federal Ministry of Justice. The Bundestag had approved a corresponding law last week.
BDI boss Siegfried Russwurm explained that with the move to the Federal Ministry of Justice, the body now has the opportunity to provide fresh impetus for less bureaucracy: “A modern, digital state with fast planning and approval procedures is a win-win situation for citizens, Citizens and companies.” Between the ministries and in the Bundestag, a real competition to reduce bureaucracy must finally start.
Economy wants “enabling administration”
According to the DIHK, the many small and medium-sized companies in particular are currently reaching their limits with the multitude of obligations and controls. “For example, 14 hours of work per week are required for bureaucracy in a family-run business in the hospitality industry,” calculated DIHK President Adrian. An important lever for reducing avoidable burdens is the acceleration of decision-making processes by dispensing with small-scale state involvement in every single step of a project.
“If an investment is wanted and the authorities involved make success their goal and support it within the framework of the law, that would be an important step,” said Adrian. “So we need an enablement administration that sets itself the goal of acceleration.”
The new boss for reducing bureaucracy is the entrepreneur and former president of the association “The Family Entrepreneurs”, Lutz Goebel. In the first interview after his appointment, Goebel had already announced in the Handelsblatt that he wanted to make the independent body better known. He also mentioned the goal that with a new regulation two old ones would have to be deleted.
The NKR chairman says: “If you ask companies and citizens, they always complain about new regulations.” These are often perceived as very complicated and expensive. “The individual bureaucratic burden remains high,” explains the new NKR boss. Relief should be felt by business and citizens: “We are only on the right track when they have the feeling that the rules are practical and implemented in a way that is appropriate for the target group.”
New members of the board
The Regulatory Control Council consists of ten honorary members who are nominated by the Federal Government for a five-year term. The new council members are:
- Garrel Duingeneral manager of the Handwerksammer in Cologne, former SPD economics minister in North Rhine-Westphalia and member of the Bundestag, later HR manager at Thyssen-Krupp.
- Reinhard Goehnerformer general manager of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) and former CDU politician.
- Kerstin Muellerformer Green Party leader and Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office, then Director of the Israel Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Tel Aviv and now a Fellow of the German Society for Foreign Relations (DGAP).
- Malte SpitzGeneral Secretary of the Society for Freedom Rights, data protection advisor, most recently in the Green Party Council.
The previous members of the NKR will continue to be Andrea Wicklein (partner at PKS Kommunikations- und Strategieberatung), Sabine Kuhlmann (holder of the chair for political science, administration and organization at the University of Potsdam), Gudrun Grieser (former mayor of the city of Schweinfurt) and Dorothea Störr-Ritter (district administrator of the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald).
The appointment of a tenth member should be decided “in due course”, as the Federal Ministry of Justice announced.
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