Statement: Bitkom on the coalition agreement

The focus is on modernizing the state, reducing bureaucracy, economic growth and strengthening digital sovereignty, which Bitkom very much welcomes. One positive aspect is that digital projects run through all areas of the state, economy and society; in particular, the coalition agreement includes numerous measures to modernize and digitize the state and reduce bureaucracy. This shows: The coalition agreement has a high level of ambition in terms of digital policy overall. However, with all digital measures, it is important to flesh out the individual projects and back them up with the necessary funding so that they do not remain general declarations of intent.

Powers of the Ministry of Digital Affairs

The new Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization needs a swift and binding clarification of powers and responsibilities; the coalition agreement contains no details on this. The digital ministry can only be effective if it is given responsibility for the core digital topics and is equipped with the necessary coordination rights, a digital reservation, an adequate budget and a sufficient individual plan. This is the only way it can become a driving force for digitalization. The new coalition must clarify these issues with the Chancellor's organizational decree immediately after taking office.

The coalition agreement includes a Telecommunications Network Expansion Acceleration Act, which also provides for a genuine "overriding public interest" for network expansion. With the new regulation, the fiber optic network can be expanded more quickly, provided that network expansion is not made more difficult elsewhere due to new burdens for companies. From Bitkom's point of view, the strong commitment to Germany as a data center location is also very positive. In particular, the extension of electricity price compensation to data centers can strengthen the digital infrastructure and thus directly strengthen Germany's digital sovereignty. Anchoring the digital-only and once-only principle for administrative services in the coalition agreement is an important step. This will ensure that citizens will be able to store data in one place in future and will not have to enter it again for every administrative process.

The planned modernization of registers will have a massive impact on the efficiency of administration, as will the planned amendment to the Basic Law so that the federal government can regulate digital administrative procedures and standards. However, there have been plenty of declarations of intent for efficient and digital administration in the past. Germany now needs a genuine and, above all, ambitious modernization agenda for the state and administration. The mammoth task will be to implement the plans and win over the federal states and local authorities.

The promotion of key technologies such as AI, quantum technology and microelectronics will contribute to strengthening Germany's digital sovereignty and competitiveness if it is implemented ambitiously and backed with appropriate funding. The explicit development and expansion of the AI computing infrastructure in Germany as well as the intended low-bureaucracy and innovation-friendly design of the AI Act are necessary measures whose implementation must not fall short of the announcements.

Economy and start-ups: The "investment booster" announced in the coalition agreement has the potential to drive digitization in Germany's companies, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. The signals for start-ups are also positive: fewer hurdles for start-ups and investments are planned, as well as more capital for innovation and growth. A massive lever for reducing bureaucracy will be the abolition of written form requirements via a general clause, which Bitkom believes must be implemented comprehensively. The announced adoption of an annual bureaucracy relief act and the full implementation and expansion of the "Pact for Accelerating Planning, Approval and Implementation" are also positive.

When it comes to energy and sustainability, the potential of digitalization is being ignored. Digitalization is the key to achieving the climate targets and all possibilities must be exploited.

Conclusion

The coalition agreement contains many important measures for the new legislative period. However, as all projects are subject to funding, it is now up to the federal government to prioritize them. A genuine new departure will only succeed if the important declarations of intent are backed up with concrete measures.

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