In a survey of 3,500 companies conducted by the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BIHK), over 90 percent said that government bureaucracy was hindering their business. “Bureaucracy is now seen as a major risk to Germany as a business location and as a clear disadvantage in international comparison,” said BIHK boss Manfred Gößl.
Evidence and documentation requirements and statistical reporting obligations would burden most companies. In addition, frequent changes to the law and data protection regulations cause annoyance. More than half complain about slow administrative and approval procedures.
Gößl criticizes that it is the wrong approach to try to control business decisions down to the smallest detail by decree and calls for a change in mentality in Berlin and Brussels. It is high time that politicians “cleared the jungle of bureaucracy and limited themselves to the bare minimum in terms of regulation.” But companies “have not yet noticed that the political declarations of intent to reduce bureaucracy are being implemented in reality.” The BIHK actually sees the opposite: Companies are being squeezed more and more.
