Digital Minister Wildberger plans to streamline administration, targeting potential savings of €16 billion
In a bold move to streamline government operations and reduce costs, Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) has announced a comprehensive plan to cut bureaucratic expenses by 16 billion euros, which equates to a quarter of the current costs.
Wildberger, who is serious about bureaucratic reduction as stated in his letter, aims to achieve this by dismantling entrenched administrative structures and significantly cutting regulatory burdens. The specialist level of his department will contact other departments to inquire about the current status of bureaucratic reduction plans.
To coordinate this major push, Wildberger has called for a "Relief Cabinet" of ministers to work together and reduce bureaucracy across federal agencies. He believes that less regulation and more freedom can lead to both economic growth and social progress, and that trust in the creative power of people is key.
The strategy also involves the implementation of a “one-in-two-out” regulatory principle. This means that for every new administrative requirement, there must be double relief elsewhere to reduce overall burden.
All federal ministries have been requested to submit concrete proposals for bureaucratic reduction by mid-September 2025, in preparation for a comprehensive reform agenda to be presented at the late September cabinet retreat.
Wildberger is committed to using all his strength to bring about sustainable change, direction, courage, and perseverance, as well as political will. He emphasizes the need for the state to trust citizens and businesses more and give them more responsibility by simplifying and modernizing state functions.
The state, according to Wildberger, has accumulated bureaucratic concrete over decades, and it is time for a modernization agenda with proposals for a "state reform" to address this issue. The government retreat at the end of September will see the presentation of this modernization agenda.
While no detailed breakdown of specific individual reforms has been publicly disclosed yet, as proposals from ministries are still being gathered as of August 2025, it is clear that this approach involves strategic, significant deregulation and state modernization aimed at simplifying regulatory complexity and reducing administrative costs for businesses and citizens alike.
Other related reforms, such as easing banking regulations for smaller banks, are part of broader deregulation trends but are separate from the Digital Ministry’s direct bureaucratic cost-cutting plans.
[1] Strategic, significant deregulation and state modernization
[2] Easing banking regulations for smaller banks are separate from the Digital Ministry’s direct bureaucratic cost-cutting plans.
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