"Bureaucracy hinders progress" FDP State Secretary Benjamin Strasser visits SÜDPACK

Numerous topics and current challenges for Germany as a business location were discussed together. The most important point of discussion was the reduction of bureaucracy. Many companies are calling for the reduction of trade barriers and bureaucracy, the acceleration of approval procedures, a reduction in the tax burden and support in securing the supply of skilled labour.

"In the current DIHK economic survey, bureaucracy is ranked number one on the negative scale for the fifth time in terms of the business risk of the economic policy framework. So there is an urgent need for action here," explained entrepreneur Johannes Remmele. He also sees high energy costs, geopolitical crises and trade problems with China and the USA as risks that are almost impossible to calculate for the domestic market, which "is more dependent than ever on reliability, efficiency and competitiveness."

As a member of the General Assembly and the Energy Committee as well as Vice President of the Ulm Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Johannes Remmele was one of the initiators and drivers of a demonstration in November 2023, in which around 800 entrepreneurs and employees from over 200 companies campaigned for more bureaucracy reduction under the banner of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

State Secretary Strasser, who is also the Federal Government Commissioner for Bureaucracy Reduction and Better Regulation, was impressed by the family business and the commitment of the agile entrepreneur during the meeting at SÜDPACK's headquarters. He emphasised: "Reducing bureaucracy is an ongoing task. As a coalition, we have launched the largest bureaucracy reduction package in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The so-called Meseberg resolutions of 2023 will save citizens three billion euros in unnecessary bureaucracy. And that every year! But this can only be a first step. We will continue to do so consistently - both at European level and in national law. The aim must be for the reduction in bureaucracy to finally be felt in people's everyday lives."

For Johannes Remmele and the medium-sized family business SÜDPACK, words must urgently be followed by deeds. He cited comprehensive sustainability reporting as an example. "The costs for the sustainability reporting required by the EU are estimated at 1.4 billion. The planned law to reduce bureaucracy is expected to save one billion euros. The bottom line is that companies will still be burdened instead of relieved." Energy prices, which are of fundamental importance for an energy-intensive company such as the film manufacturer SÜDPACK, have not yet been clearly regulated. Similarly, investments in photovoltaic systems or wind energy would be immensely costly due to bureaucratic hurdles or would hardly be possible.

"The CSRD sustainability reporting directive can be traced back to the Fridays for Future protests in 2019 and von der Leyen's Green Deal. The Grand Coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD still conducted a large part of the negotiations at European level. As the new federal government, we were no longer able to stop the project completely. Now the implementation at national level must be about avoiding duplicate reporting obligations," Strasser countered the criticism during the discussion.

The entrepreneur and FDP politician agreed that politics should not regulate everything. This makes it all the more important to focus on all levels of government when reducing bureaucracy. "We can't reduce bureaucracy as quickly as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from the CDU is building it up again and torpedoing our efforts with ever new EU bureaucracy rules. As a liberal, I trust the people. I do not assume that citizens tend to be seducible and immature and therefore need regulation down to the last detail," concluded Strasser.