Three ways to reduce bureaucracy

Less bureaucracy - it's a wish, a dream, a hope and a buzzword that is often used in connection with digitalization. And it is usually also directly noted that this is not so easy, especially not in Germany. Under the overarching theme of “Bureaucracy reduction times three - impulses for reducing bureaucracy”, three short presentations at the Smart Country Convention dealt with precisely how to achieve this.

For Dr. Anna-Julka Lilja, Head of Division for Better Regulation and Bureaucracy Reduction at the Federal Ministry of Justice, the way to less bureaucracy is through better laws. “Good law is simple, effective and low-cost. Bad rules, on the other hand, create unnecessary bureaucracy, make digital enforcement more difficult and weaken trust in our democracy,” said Lilja. The issue needs to be tackled on three levels: national, European and methodological. For example, 60 percent of bureaucratic burdens come from the EU.

“There is a lot of momentum on the topic,” says the expert. Her department is responsible for the Bureaucracy Reduction Act IV, which aims to save 1.5 billion euros. However, the foundations for digital implementation, which in turn entails less bureaucracy, are being laid in the legislative process. According to Lilja, the new Center for Legislation is therefore concerned with research into practical legislation and improving the qualifications of legists, i.e. those who draft the legal texts.

Visualize and understand needs

Dr. Anna Sinell, Product Lead & Senior Product Manager at DigitalService of the Federal Government, presented a key element: the digital check. “Digitally compatible law is a prerequisite for efficient and low-bureaucracy enforcement,” said Sinell. That's why this needs to be considered right from the start and not just checked at the end with checklists. The focus is on concrete implementation. A core method here is visualization, which makes the facts clear and creates a common understanding of the topic. In addition, implementation stakeholders should be involved at an early stage and interdisciplinary digital expertise should be brought in. “The aim is to avoid bureaucratic costs at an early stage,” says Sinell.

Prof. Dr. Michael Eßig from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich showed just how complex the issue of bureaucracy can be. The expert in public procurement law reported on the criterion of sustainability, which all suppliers in public procurement actually have to fulfill. But statistically, only 13 percent of all contracts awarded include sustainability criteria in any form at all.

“Why is this implemented so little? Because the criteria are not binding enough and those responsible for procurement are too unsure how to apply them,” explained Eßig. Many would like to see less bureaucracy and at the same time binding regulations, which in turn would lead to more paragraphs. “But don't we perhaps need better paragraphs and, above all, better application?” said Eßig. The biggest problem is that the relevant employees are not trained enough in applying the rules.