How to cut red tape

For at least twenty years, every new federal government of Germany has promised to relieve companies of burdensome bureaucracy. So far, all governments have failed to do so. Our survey of German medium-sized businesses recently revealed that they see bureaucracy as the single largest problem for Germany's competitiveness – far ahead of high energy costs, taxes, and the shortage of skilled workers.

If the state trusted companies, ...

The previously passed laws for reducing bureaucracy and the Regulatory Control Council, established in 2006 as a key agency to reduce bureaucracy, are not inherently wrong. However, they will not solve the problem of excessive bureaucracy as long as the state does not change its fundamental attitude towards companies and the market. Instead of facing them with fundamental skepticism, the state should place more trust in companies and markets.

For full text see attached PDF-Version.