On December 13, 2022, the National Standards Control Council (NKR) handed over the annual report entitled "Reducing Bureaucracy at the Historical Turning Point - Relieving the Burden on Citizens, Business and Administration Now" to Federal Minister of Justice Dr. Buschmann. Prof. Kuhlmann attended the handover and the press conference as Vice Chair. In its annual report, the NKR states that the burden of new regulations has increased significantly. However, it said, it is particularly important to keep bureaucratic burdens as low as possible and to reduce them further, especially in times of crisis when business, citizens and the administration are under great strain.

"When, if not now, is the time to make regulations and enforcement processes in Germany simpler, more addressee-oriented and more effective?"

The introduction of the digital check, which obliges all ministries to check new laws for their digital suitability before they are introduced, is viewed positively. In addition, the NKR is pushing for a new Bureaucracy Relief Act, which has already been announced by the German government but has not yet been presented. Another focus of the report is the critical evaluation of the Online Access Act and proposals for an OZG 2.0, which should draw lessons from the problematic experiences with the OZG 1.0 and its low level of implementation.

The press release of the NKR can be found here. 

The full annual report can be found here. 

A report on the handover of the annual report, which appeared on the University of Potsdam's homepage, can be found here.