CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann has put forward his own three-point plan designed to ease the burden on the German economy. According to Linnemann in an interview with “Stern” he stressed that the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (Mittelstand) and craft industries require a signal of recovery.
His primary demand is the temporary cessation of all documentation requirements for businesses for a period of three years. Linnemann argued that current documentation mandates place entrepreneurs under “general suspicion”. Instead, he proposed adopting a simpler principle: significantly less bureaucracy paired with reinforced controls and clear, palpable penalties for violations. He used the analogy of traffic laws, stating that one does not need to log every instance of driving at 30 km/h in a 30 zone, but speeding must be severely punished.
Furthermore, Linnemann wants to suspend all existing analog statistical reporting requirements for companies until the state can provide a digital solution. The CDU politician criticized the current “paper economy” arguing that it creates excessive red tape while generating little genuine insight. He insisted the state must use this opportunity to review the necessity of these regulations before reinstating them.
A third key plank of his plan involves repealing German corporate due diligence obligations concerning environmental, human, and child rights throughout global supply chains. Linnemann stated that the German Supply Chain Act should be abolished as soon as possible and replaced by new European rules. He argued that this move would massively alleviate pressure on SMEs and all companies with fewer than 5,000 employees. He noted that Germany would have to introduce EU-level regulations anyway by 2028, rules that only apply to companies with 5,000 employees and an annual revenue exceeding 1.5 billion euros. In fact, abolishing the national rule was already agreed upon in the ruling coalition’s contract.
Linnemann concluded by stating that the CDU parliamentary group plans to introduce these new economic relief measures during a closed-door session this Tuesday. He asserted that these measures would not cost the state any money, arguing that everything needed now is what strengthens Germany’s competitiveness. He stressed that the coalition must now provide the political will to enact the reforms, claiming that doing so would demonstrate that they are serious about the economy.