German rubber industry urges measures to cut red-tape

Frankfurt, Germany – German rubber industry association the WDK has proposed a new ‘report register’ to address the increasing burden of bureaucracy on small and medium-sized companies.

"Contrary to the grandiose announcements of several federal governments, the reporting obligations for companies will not decrease, but increase," said WDK president Michael Klein in a 7 March statement.

The term 'cutting red tape', added the association leader, has “become synonymous with broken political promises."

In a separate release, Klein reported that 1.5 new laws were created at EU level for every law that was abolished in 2021: the ratio then rising to 3.5:1 in 2022 and 5:1 last year.

Compliance costs caused by laws for companies, authorities and the population were higher than ever before in 2023, he added.

To reduce the burden, Klein proposed the introduction of an official mechanism in which all legally binding reporting obligations of companies would have to be included.

"Such a collection would make the abstract concept of bureaucracy more tangible and the burden on the economy clearer to the outside world," he explained.

With the creation and updating of the register, companies could effectively check their reporting obligations regularly, Klein added.

Reporting, he advised, should cover both German and EU reporting obligations, in view of "the ever-increasing number of regulations by European legislators."

"The burden of bureaucracy has now reached a level that is almost impossible for medium-sized companies in particular to manage,” commented Klein.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular do not have the resources to meet the complex bureaucratic requirements, he pointed out.

The red-tape, concluded Klein, is a growing cost-burden for manufacturing SMEs: either in the shape of "paying for compliance with the help of external consultants or paying fines for non-compliance."