In German authorities, paperwork is often still the order of the day. As early as 2017, the “Groko” wanted to push ahead with the overdue digitization. Now the traffic light is making a second attempt – with restrictions.
The federal government wants to finally enable the citizens and companies in Germany to deal with important official matters digitally. This is provided for in a new law on the digitization of administration (OZG 2.0), which is to be launched in the Federal Cabinet on Wednesday.
However, a deadline for the implementation of the digitization projects was not specified in the draft law from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which is available to the dpa. The waiver of implementation deadlines for the online projects had already been criticized not only by the opposition parties after the publication of the first draft bill in January. He was also criticized by representatives of the Greens and the FDP.
Target not even remotely reached
Attempts to digitize services such as issuing a driver’s license or registering a residence date back more than five years. The first online access law (OZG) of the then black-red government coalition from August 2017 gave the federal and state governments until the end of 2022 to offer 575 recorded administrative services online. But the target was not even remotely reached. In order to advance digitization, a new edition – the OZG 2.0 – should now remedy the situation.
In the new OZG, a focus is placed on completely converting administrative processes to digital processes. This is intended, for example, to prevent data being recorded digitally via web forms, but then only being printed out in the authorities and processed in the usual analog way. Consistent digitization is to be implemented, for example, in the case of re-registration of place of residence, parental allowance, marriage, registration and re-registration of motor vehicles, building permits, driver’s licenses and housing allowance.
Digital processing with “BundID”
So that digital applications no longer have to be signed on paper, the previously required written form is no longer required for digital processing. In a citizen account (“BundID”), which is used to communicate with the administration, the online ID card is to be used in particular. The Ministry of the Interior promised that the digital proof of identity with the electronic identity card is the key to state – but also private – services and will be established in a user-friendly manner through specific use cases.
The BundID is to be used uniformly throughout Germany. The federal states with their own ID accounts, such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, now have three years to say goodbye to their solutions. Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt had previously announced that they would replace their state service accounts with the BundID.
“Digital Only” regulation for companies
The Elster certificate, which was actually developed for electronic tax returns, can still be used for identification with the BundID. However, this only applies to services that do not require a high level of security, such as applying for the one-off energy price flat rate of 200 euros for students and technical students.
The law also stipulates a fixed deadline for administrative services for company services: These are to be offered exclusively digitally within five years. This “digital only” regulation then also means that companies are obliged to use the “organizational account for companies”.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
