Bürokratieabbau konkret: Der Nationale Normenkontrollrat als Impulsgeber für Bessere Rechtsetzung, Verfahrensbeschleunigung und digitaltaugliches Recht

Abstract

Abstract Since the 1990s, a number of governments in Germany and Europe have put better regulation and bureaucracy reduction on the political agenda and implemented corresponding reforms. In the face of increasing international competition, a growing body of regulation and the need to maintain and strengthen the legitimacy of legislative action, reforms are aimed at reducing regulatory compliance costs and the bureaucratic burden that regulations place on businesses, citizens and public administration. Germany’s National Regulatory Control Council (NKR) was set up in 2006 on the basis of the Act Establishing a National Regulatory Control Council. In its structure, procedures and methodology, the NKR represents a new approach to institutionalising better regulation. This article looks at the core task of the NKR, namely “bureaucracy checks”, and at a number of recent proposals issued to the German government by the NKR in its advisory role. An examination of changes in bureaucracy and compliance costs is followed by an outline of areas in which the NKR advocates action. Proposals relate to planning and approval processes and to the feasibility and digital-readiness of legislation.