The CDU-affiliated interest group Wirtschaftsrat der CDU is calling for the Federal Digital Minister, Karsten Wildberger (CDU), to dramatically accelerate state modernization efforts. According to a position paper reported by the “Rheinische Post”, the group stresses that reforms can no longer remain purely in the realm of discussion; they must be actively implemented. Specifically, the report calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s administration, regulations, and decision-making processes.
The Wirtschaftsrat argues that only an efficient, easy-to-understand, digitally interconnected, and service-oriented state can safeguard the competitiveness of Germany’s economic location and fulfill the promises of the social market economy in a digitized world. They urge the government to continuously re-evaluate its mandate and expenditures, concentrating instead on central core functions such as upholding the rule of law, ensuring education, and achieving digital sovereignty. Furthermore, administrative processes must be conceived in line with the actual lived experiences of citizens and businesses.
Wolfgang Steiger, General Secretary of the Wirtschaftsrat, told the newspaper that while plenty of ideas and suggestions for state modernization exist and that the problems are clearly defined, what is crucially missing is decisive action. He emphasized that the focus must now shift entirely to implementation-consecutively simplifying and digitizing the administration. According to Steiger, this is the only way the state can regain its ability to act, which in turn is the foundation for sustained competitiveness and prosperity.
The position paper is scheduled to be presented to Philipp Amthor (CDU), the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Digital Ministry, during the association’s “Economic Day” on Tuesday.