Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – From the point of view of the chambers of industry and commerce (IHK), the clearing office for medium-sized companies set up in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2013 has contributed to reducing bureaucracy. “With the clearing office, the state government was the first federal state to create an institution to systematically identify bureaucratic effort,” the NRW Chamber of Industry and Commerce summed up. The state parliament has now published an activity report from the clearing house.
The effectiveness of the position goes far beyond norm control, said the managing director for the area of ????economic policy, Matthias Mainz, the German press agency. You have also developed ideas for simplifications yourself. “Even if not all suggestions are always accepted, the work of the clearing house has created a greater awareness of bureaucratic burdens in NRW, which means that the needs of medium-sized companies are now taken into account more from the outset.”
The Clearingstelle Mittelstand is an independent institution. It examines planned and existing laws and ordinances relevant to SMEs as well as other projects and measures of the state government for their compatibility with SMEs. The effects on the competitive situation, costs, jobs and administrative expenses are examined. The aim is to identify burdens and to find regulations that are more friendly to SMEs.
According to the activity report, the clearing house has reviewed 117 projects at state, federal and EU level since 2013 and submitted proposals. In 68 cases, she helped specialist departments to assess whether a project was of significant importance for medium-sized companies. The focus of the work is therefore on energy, climate and environmental law.
Mainz stressed that it was important for the clearing house to be involved at a very early stage. “We are curious to see how the option newly added to the law to check existing regulations for compatibility with medium-sized companies will be implemented and how this can have an effect.”
With a view to excessive requirements, the IHK sees medium-sized companies as the “burdened backbone of the economy”. According to their information, around 696,500 small and medium-sized companies – and thus 99.2 percent – can be attributed to medium-sized companies in the most populous federal state. With around 67 percent of all employees subject to social security contributions, an important contribution is made here to jobs, qualifications, innovation and growth, emphasizes the state working group of the chambers of industry and commerce.
