Germans who want to trim their garden with a lawnmower may have to take out insurance first. To the dismay of many states, the federal government in Berlin has come up with proposals for new rules. The notorious German bureaucracy seems stubborn.
Almost everyone in Germany agrees that local governments, companies, entrepreneurs, employees and citizens would benefit from less stifling rules imposed by the German state. However, that is easier said than done. Breaking old habits has proven to be very difficult.
once again. There is a massive 120-page report ready on the desk of Germany's Justice Minister, Marco Buschmann (FDP). The report concerns insurance requirements for “self-driving work machines” in Germany. Roughly speaking: every German who drives a mower, for example, will soon have to take out insurance.
These are small motorized vehicles that can, in theory, participate in public road traffic. Anyone who does not obtain insurance faces a fine or a one-year suspended prison sentence, according to Al-Akhbar Weekly Der Spiegel Based on examination of the report.
Lengthy procedures
The suggestion of a lawnmower causes emotions to rise. Because many states turned against the plan, it will have to be voted on in the Bundestag next Wednesday. All sixteen states may have their objections heard. It is noteworthy that the Free Democratic Party is behind this proposal. German liberals in particular insist on reducing bureaucracy.
The fact that Germany suffers from regulatory pressure is not new. But as the German economy suffers and economic growth is estimated at 0.2 percent this year, the business community is calling for lengthy procedures to be shortened and ink saved on paper. German bureaucracy has a particularly bad reputation for foreign companies.
Wall lizards
The examples are endless. Waiting periods of at least ten years for a building permit in the port of Rostock, street lamps that had to stay on during the gas crisis despite the intention to save energy, and the construction of the main station in Stuttgart halted due to the discovery of a colony of wall lizards.
The lawn mower proposal is therefore causing annoyance to the German Insurance Association (GDV). “Reducing bureaucracy works differently,” Vice President Anya Kafer Rohrbach sarcastically answers Der Spiegel. On the other hand, lawyers fear imposing taxes on small farmers in particular. The federal government can do little good for many farmers, as evidenced by the massive protests that broke out last month.
Minister Bushmann defends the proposal in an explanation. Without mandatory insurance, the Liberal argues, the risk of nonpayment only increases. Insurers reject this argument: they argue that accidents involving the use of lawn mowers, for example, can be counted on one hand.
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