Saxony's skilled crafts sector pushes for effective bureaucracy reduction

Saxon tradespeople feel slowed down by excessive bureaucracy and are demanding noticeable relief.

"For years, if not decades, we have been confronting politicians at EU, federal and state level with this tiresome issue - without any significant results. At the very least, tradespeople have not noticed any real relief effects in their day-to-day business," explained Uwe Nostitz, President of the Saxon Trades Association, in Dresden. The future government is expected to show significantly more commitment in this area.

"The abundance of laws and other regulations that are almost impossible to keep track of, let alone to master in practice, must have an almost deterrent effect on every potential business founder or business transferee - and this at a time when skilled workers and managers are so urgently needed in the skilled trades," emphasized Nostitz. The skilled trades sector will increasingly measure the work of those in power in the future by how persistent they are in reducing bureaucracy.

Bavaria as a role model?

The Chamber President recommended taking Bavaria as an example. There, government plans to reduce bureaucracy are already relatively concrete: at least ten percent of all administrative regulations are to be abolished. Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) also wants to tighten the "paragraph brake": In future, two existing laws are to be deleted for every new one. New laws will also have a validity period of five years and must then be extended if necessary. Data protection law and statistical obligations are also to be streamlined.

The Saxon Crafts Association currently represents around 55,000 predominantly micro and small businesses, which employ around 280,000 people.