The administrative burden increased by 14 percentage points between 2018 and 2022, according to studies by the IfM Bonn. "For more than half of companies, the emotional burden caused by bureaucracy, such as anger and powerlessness, weighs even more heavily than the pure time and cost factor, " reported Dr Annette Icks at the Hamm Chamber of Commerce and Industry economic discussion in mid-January. Opportunity costs and the consequential effects on investment and competitiveness should also not be forgotten.
IfM researchers believe that it is no longer enough to achieve ad hoc improvements in individual areas. What is needed is a paradigm shift in the entire regulatory cycle, with systematic efforts to create the conditions for preventing excessive bureaucracy from arising in the first place and for reducing it in a targeted manner.
