Plans for blue and black

WKÖ general calls for own “SOKO bureaucracy reduction”

Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

When it comes to economic issues, blue and black are as good as green. In an interview with krone.tv, Chamber of Commerce General and ÖVP negotiator Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer explains his plans. First and foremost, savings are to be made in the paperwork for companies. Bureaucracy should no longer be a brake pad, he says.

As part of the government negotiations, the Chamber of Commerce is now presenting a comprehensive plan for reducing bureaucracy in the "Krone" newspaper. It includes concrete measures to relieve the burden on long-suffering entrepreneurs in the country. Above all, the Chamber is now declaring war on paperwork. "Bureaucracy is the billion-dollar grave of the economy, it destroys jobs and prosperity. Our companies need air to breathe," explains the new Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce, Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer.

Big effort for small businesses
And he backs up his statements with facts. Bureaucracy costs Austrian companies alone 10 to 15 billion euros per year. The burden is particularly high for small businesses. They spend an average of 19.3 hours per week on administrative tasks alone, which costs each company up to 50,000 euros per year. 

"We are declaring war on the bureaucracy monster. In keeping with the upcoming season, Austria's laws need a spring clean."

Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, Wirtschaftskammer-General

According to Hattmannsdorfer, companies "waste a disproportionate amount of time and resources on complex reporting obligations, documentation requirements and regulatory guidelines". This slows down innovation, investment and the creation of new jobs.

Examples of excessive bureaucracy:

• An Upper Austrian industrial company needs 70 employees for its sustainability report.
• There are 27 different forms in Austria for the secondment of employees to another EU country.
• An EIA approval procedure takes an average of 2 years. A maximum of 9 months is provided for by law.

The WKO is therefore calling for a lean state with fewer rules and more freedom as well as a clear ban on "gold plating", i.e. the undesirable overfulfillment of EU minimum standards at national level, and the introduction of a "SOKO Bürokratieabbau" (special commission) and a corresponding special commissioner "quasi a Robin Hood for bureaucracy reduction" under the blue-black government. 

"Those who over-regulate lose. And that means growth, prosperity, jobs and the future. Our companies don't need new forms, they need more freedom to do business," underlines Hattmannsdorfer in an interview with krone.tv presenter Gerhard Koller.