"Relief Cabinet": More than just the official end for DE-Mail

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It can only be a start; those responsible in Berlin are sure of that: in a session on Wednesday officially dedicated solely to the topic of “relief,” the cabinet will aim to streamline regulations that unduly burden citizens and businesses. This is intended to make government action noticeable in everyday life. A prominent example: the remnants of DE-Mail.

Black-red wants to reduce bureaucracy costs by 16 billion euros “and the fulfillment effort for companies, citizens, and administration by at least ten billion euros.” This is what the coalition has agreed upon. Fulfillment effort is the term used to refer to the costs incurred by legal requirements. An ambitious goal. To achieve this, all ministries are therefore to search for savings potential in their respective areas.

“This joint commitment to noticeable relief is the new quality that characterizes our government work,” says the Minister for Digitalization and State Modernization Karsten Wildberger (CDU). “At the same time, it is now important to focus on implementation and further projects.” Because in the first round, only eight legislative changes have made it to cabinet maturity. And the nature of the projects varies greatly—both in scope and impact.

Die slowly: The long death of DE-Mail

One of the most undisputed projects is likely to be the official end of DE-Mail: The only remaining provider of DE-Mail services was recently Francotyp-Postalia Digital Business Solutions, after 1&1 with Web.de and GMX.de withdrew from the offering. The previous federal government had already ushered in the end for DE-Mail at the end of 2023 the end for DE-Mail.

However, the remnants in the form of laws continue to exist. The ostensibly simple abolition of DE-Mail is just one example of the dilemma in which the federal government finds itself after its grand announcements on bureaucracy reduction: once enshrined in law, projects cannot be undone at breakneck speed. They often serve a sensible purpose and because of cross-references in other laws, sometimes require massive adjustments elsewhere. One reason why the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization, which is leading the process, wants to make swift progress but also warns against haste.

Administrative relief can burden citizens more

However, a relief that comes under the heading of “administrative relief” will affect every German citizen: With an amendment to the Passport and Identity Card Act, the identity card will primarily become pricier: the fee for it will rise from 37 to 46 euros, while remaining at 22.80 euros for those under 22 years of age.

Those responsible argue that costs have risen, the fees are no longer cost-covering anyway, and citizens will surely understand when electronic functions can be used better in the future. However, at least part of the higher costs is also due to the new digital photo standards, in which the Bundesdruckerei, owned by the federal government itself, had a controversial special role as a service provider.

Fewer hurdles for data centers and broadband expansion

Further approval fictions are also intended to ensure faster broadband expansion: for both fiber optic expansion and mobile phone masts and necessary access routes, it will in the future be considered approved even more often than before if no objection is raised within a certain period, which will provide further material for discussion in the Bundestag at the latest.

With the Energy Efficiency Act, the federal government is proud that, after a revision of the law already passed in 2023, it will implement the corresponding EU directive exactly as it was jointly decided in Brussels by member states and the European Parliament. This form of implementation is to become the standard in the future.

The so-called “goldplating” is thus eliminated, meaning that no longer will its own rules be enacted beyond the European requirements. However, this also means that German specifics will no longer be considered.

Operators of data centers are specifically affected by this law, whose energy consumption and waste heat will now be subject to fewer regulations than before.

Compressed air officers are eliminated

Other regulations are likely to be more practically relevant for many small companies, such as the obligation to appoint safety officers for occupational safety according to the Seventh Social Code: Previously, all companies with more than 20 employees had to have one—in the future, this will only apply from the threshold of 250. This could theoretically lead to the elimination of 123,000 safety officers.

However, whether this will happen at all does not depend primarily on the legislator. It is already the case that the accident insurance provider decides whether a safety officer must be appointed or not, depending on the hazard situation in the company. In the future, this could also take over the tasks of the “compressed air officer” – the requirement according to §18 of the Compressed Air Ordinance is now to be deleted without replacement.

Receipt obligation remains, for now

A particularly prominent example of all bureaucracy discussions, in which digitalization plays a major role, has not made it into the first round of relief measures now being initiated: the receipt obligation. Introduced, among other things, with the aim of preventing tax evasion, its revision is still in progress.

However, the “relief cabinet” is to meet regularly in the future, and Federal Minister Wildberger and his cabinet colleagues will have to see how much they will have to let out of the air from the grand announcements of billion-euro savings potentials. To achieve this, the BMDS intends to regularly review and transparently present the federal government's goals and the ministries' actual activities in a report.

(mho)