So, the debts are made. Now it’s about reforms. What reforms does Friedrich Merz have to deliver so that Germany works again and the economy is growing again?
Reform, a nice word. Latin, there is a re in there, that is, back. And the verb forms, i.e. design. That fits: Our country has to be designed again – the Bundeswehr, the infrastructure, the schools. Money is there now. What is still missing is a plan.
There is a lot of reform needs: tax reform, pension reform, labor market reform, state reform – the list is not final. What is important, what can wait? My list of priorities for the first Merz months comprises five points that are central to the functioning of the state and the renaissance of the economy. The rest can wait.
1. Tempo, not the Scholz’s pace of Germany
Leverkusen, Lüdenscheid, Berlin – What do these cities have in common? Right: spectacular ailing bridges. The A1 in the Rhenish, the A45 in the Sauerland, now the Ringbahnbrücke in Berlin are symbols for the decay of our infrastructure. The new construction of the motorway 100 has been planning in Berlin for ten years, nothing is launched.
It can’t go on like this. But how do you change that? The traffic light has already passed a “planning acceleration law”, the name is as complicated as the law. At first, faster procedures only provided for red-green favorite projects: wind power, energy transition, climate protection. The FDP also negotiated motorway projects in the package. Olaf Scholz spoke of the new pace of Germany. This pace applies to projects that are “of outstanding public interest”.
Uwe Vorkötter is one of the most experienced journalists in the Republic. He has been analyzing politics, business and society for four decades, and he has already observed the Chancellor Schmidt and Kohl up close. As editor -in -chief, he headed the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”, the “Berliner Zeitung” and the “Frankfurter Rundschau”. He is the editor of “Horizont”, a specialist medium for the communication industry.
However, it is unrealistic to initially state an outstanding public interest for every power line, every mobile phone mast and every fiber optic cable. The accelerated planning must be the normal case. This has side effects: fewer opposition options for citizens in the neighborhood, less species protection for bats or Juchten beetles.
If Merz cannot get this reform, his government will have no chance of transforming the billions from the special fund into infrastructure.
2. Control is good, trust is better
Everyone is talking about debureaucratization. But the bureaucracy presents itself to the citizen as a juggernut, who can hardly be met. Applications, questionnaires, evidence, notices and instructions – our community is over administrated.
Companies suffer from too many reporting obligations: corporate sustainability reporting, EU taxonomy, supply chain carage law law, the horror stitching words from the bureaucracy jungle are. Here in terms of sustainability. There in terms of occupational safety, data protection, consumer protection. Always according to the principle: Anyone who leads a company must prove that they adhere to the laws.
It is necessary to turn it around, like in road traffic. The state presupposes that drivers adhere to the regulations. It controls correct behavior in random samples, for example with the speed speedster. Anyone who violates the rules must expect a fine, if necessary with harder punishments.
People who keep our economy run instead of distrust. This reform costs nothing. It only requires political will. And manager.
3. Digitization: Ask for Amazon
Digital communication with the office usually goes like this in Germany: You invite a form from the Internet, print it out, fill it, sign it handwritten, scan it and send it to the authority by email. No, this is not a digital process, this is a carriage ride on the Formula 1 course.
Others do it very differently, much better. The Scandinavians primarily and the Baltic states. Germany does not have to reinvent the digital bike, but only orientate itself on the best. To Estonia. Or immediately on Amazon. Sure, the building law office is not an online shop, customers are not subjects. But actually not.
The Merz government may set up a digital ministry. The digitization of the ministries is more important. In the next four years, not at some point. If the coalition does not start immediately, it has already missed the time.
4. Citizens’ allowance, basic security – back to Hartz IV
