Our state structure is clearly not sufficiently resilient and crisis-proof. And there are many reasons for this: complicated regulations, lengthy planning and approval processes, cumbersome procurement procedures and, in some cases, inefficient public procurement are paralysing the country in too many areas. Added to this is a policy that focuses heavily on „input orientation“. This means that the answer to almost every challenge is: We need more money, more staff and, above all, new laws. Creativity for other solutions falls by the wayside. The extent to which measures such as new laws actually work is not sufficiently reviewed. Administration is too strongly organised in silos – the interaction between individual authorities and ministries, but also between the federal government, the states and local authorities, urgently needs to be improved. Administration is also not digital enough. It is too focused on internal structures and not on the citizen.

The most important point – and this is the real key to sustainable progress – is the focus on goals and impact in politics and administration. We need to move away from input thinking – according to the motto „the more, the better“ – towards a management style that is oriented towards clear goals and measurable results. And we need to treat the people who work for the state differently: more freedom, more trust, a better culture of error management and more diversity in training. For example, we have many really good lawyers in the ministries, but too few good business economists, social scientists, career changers and people who could simply have a different approach to administration. In short, we need a different „corporate and leadership culture“.

In the coalition agreement, we agreed to make laws more goal- and impact-oriented. We want to digitise the legislative process more. We need practical tests before laws are passed. In addition to the traditional association hearings, we want to involve more experts from relevant industries, scientists and practitioners from the implementation phase at an early stage. We want to think outside the box and learn from the solutions and experiences of other countries.

Europe and Germany – in that order – need to work on their digital and technological sovereignty. This applies to traditional infrastructure, it applies to cloud structures, but it also applies to software and platforms. Incidentally, sovereignty does not mean self-sufficiency. We don't have to do everything on our own. But after our experiences with Russia in the energy sector, we should never again be dependent on any country or region in any field.

Firstly, it is a ministry for digital affairs and state modernisation. I would have preferred the title to be the other way round. We will therefore take great care to ensure that state modernisation in particular gets „enough sunshine“. And secondly, although digital affairs and state modernisation are the responsibility of Minister Karsten Wildberger, they remain cross-cutting tasks and must therefore be embraced by every ministry. This is particularly true of the Federal Chancellery. If things aren’t going well, Friedrich Merz must, if necessary, make use of his authority to set policy direction.

Everything I’ve already mentioned. But above all: less mistrust. I’m strongly in favor of rules and oversight, but they must be targeted and consistent, and based on the fundamental assumption that the vast majority of economic actors want to do the right thing.