Market barometer – tools More machining, less red tape

Related Vendors

Renishaw plc

Ramada Acos

Medium-sized manufacturing companies in Germany face heavy financial and operational burdens due to legislative requirements. Amid economic pressures, industry leaders call for swift reforms. Machine builders and the VDMA want to use the upcoming AMB 2024 trade fair to highlight the need for open markets, renewable energy expansion and reduced bureaucracy.

Farmers, therapists and skilled craftsmen have all reached their limit with the record levels of red tape in Germany. And they’re not the only ones: VDMA Chief Executive Thilo Brodtmann is also calling for a lighter bureaucratic load. He considers the latest Bureaucracy Relief Law IV (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz IV) too detailed and the one billion Euro savings it delivers as simply a “drop in the ocean.” However, he is seeing the first signs from those in government that these concerns and the economic alarm bells are finally being heard and “wholeheartedly” supports the proposal of Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, for a two-year suspension of the German Supply Chain Act. The dissatisfaction among the associations is, however, palpable. Particularly when considering the current economic situation.

When it comes to “bureaucracy”, alarm bells are also ringing for the Chairman of VDMA Precision Tools, Stefan Zecha. In his view, medium-sized industrial companies are facing considerable personnel, organisational and financial burdens as they try to meet the legislative obligations that are ultimately of little benefit. According to a VDMA study, the costs last year were even on par with those for research and development. Not forgetting the comparably high taxes either, he adds. For the year 2023, the BDI has estimated an average nominal tax burden of almost 30 percent in Germany.