Local companies face a multitude of reporting, verification, statistical, and documentation obligations – and the number of requirements is continuously rising. Not only the number of regulations, but also the level of detail and the application areas of European directives and regulations, as well as national regulations, often overlap. In the perception of businesses, the regulation is increasingly diverging from its goal of creating a uniform, coherent, and practical system.

Relative to their economic strength and available resources, the burden of bureaucracy is generally stronger for SMEs than for larger companies. At the same time, large companies are subject to numerous obligations and reporting requirements. In IHK organization surveys, bureaucratic burdens regularly top the agenda items addressed by companies to the government. Businesses are seeking a notable reduction in unnecessary bureaucracy, more entrepreneurial freedom again, and faster planning and approval procedures. Complex application and planning processes, for example, make investment activities more difficult and hinder the path to transformation (see chapter "Planning and Approval Procedures").

In order to significantly reduce bureaucracy, effective bureaucracy brakes are needed on the one hand. On the other hand, existing regulations should be evaluated, for example, using formats such as practice checks. This could also relieve administrative authorities that implement or monitor the regulations. In this context, digitization in administrations also plays an important role in reducing bureaucracy (see chapter "Digitization and the Digital Single Market").