In its annual report, the Regulatory Control Council (NKR) clearly criticizes the digitalization of the administration and the consideration of digital impacts in federal legislation – and calls for a debate about the structure.
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“Germany is a complex country that has captured itself in many rules and procedures.” They are well-intentioned, but they will slow down innovation and the performance of companies and administrations, says Lutz Goebel, entrepreneur and chairman of the Regulatory Control Council: “It creates a sense of despair.” With the federal government now taking the first steps toward less bureaucracy, Goebel summarized: “It all points in the right direction, but the praise remains cautious.” However, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) only focuses on the first part of this classification: “We are on the right track! This federal government has done a lot for this,” he explained during the morning.
make laws more practical
The Committee, which is composed of non-partisan members, is to give an opinion on all legislative proposals and examine, among other things, the effects on bureaucracy and digital suitability. It makes its own suggestions and should develop broader ideas.
NKR’s deputy chairwoman and Potsdam administrative scientist Sabine Kuhlmann cites “practical investigation” as an example of better legislation: To find out why solar systems were rare in supermarkets, the Federal Economics Ministry interviewed company representatives. . It turned out that the main obstacle was not energy, construction or permit laws, but tax laws. There is a need for more such practical investigation into more binding laws.
Digital checks often arrive too late
The NKR criticizes that the already established digital scrutiny, with which laws are examined for digital suitability, is still often applied late in the legislative process. But then the necessary decisions have often already been made.
Overall, administrative digitalization remains a problem area. “Exemption is still pending through clarification of the underlying questions of responsibility,” the committee stressed in its report. “The division of labor in the federal state must be seriously questioned,” explains Hannes Kuhn, head of the NKR secretariat. “The way it’s organized right now, we can’t access or use resources efficiently.”
Administrative digitalization will be essential. The NKR estimates that there is already a shortage of 500,000 administrative staff and this number is increasing rapidly. Summarizing the situation, Kuhn says, “Anyone who has neither staff nor digital governance will soon have problems.” There is no permanent concept for administrative digitization and coherent modernization of registers. The schedules are “already redundant” and the legal basis is untenable.
Call for talks on federalism
In particular, the Committee demands that the “target image for digital governance” should no longer be discussed only in the “niche of the IT Planning Council”. There needs to be a clear commitment to “federalism dialogue” and platform solutions, greater professionalism in product management, and more joint software development and standards.
Another problem with administrative digitalization is financing. The Red Pencil was set here in 2024. For cost reasons, this affected the PIN reset letter for electronic ID cards. This is a criticism of the NKR, it is a step backwards. Overall, there is a lack of planning security for the years to come. The Regulatory Control Council seeks “clarity about which functions relate to the basic service”. Their financing and implementation would have to be regulated in a binding manner. The Committee generally views the “one-for-all” services market in a positive light.
NKR Chairman Lutz Goebel is calling for fundamental changes in the approach: “It is still the case today that the application is still digital,” and then it is often printed and filed. “You need fully electronic processes.” But this was what the federal government was allowed to do and wanted to digitize with the Online Access Act. Actual administrative processes usually rest with municipalities or states. But Goebel sees responsible politicians facing a bigger problem: “Citizens are gradually realizing that the state takes too long to implement its promises and is therefore losing credibility.” It’s time to promise less and deliver more.
(Mac)
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