The German government is currently squandering prosperity, in the FAZ’s view, and could win it back with simple reforms without citizens having to make sacrifices. In an opinion piece, the newspaper argues that initiative is stifled in many places in Germany and that tax revenue is lost because bureaucracy is out of control.
Social benefits and bureaucracy: clean up instead of cut
A central proposal is to reform the roughly 500 different social benefits. Instead of cutting benefits, the government should consolidate them: turn four benefits into one, send people to two agencies instead of five. That would make life easier for everyone. If the government also improves opportunities to earn extra income, welfare recipients would work more – the state could even take in more revenue, as researchers have calculated in several studies. But the project is not making real progress within the federal government.
The situation is similar with bureaucracy: the federal body of law contains so many statutes that they often overlap and fail to achieve their purpose. Here too, a cleanup is in order, according to the FAZ. The government only needs to give more room for voluntariness instead of forcing citizens.
Startups and working hours: dare more freedom
Another area is startups. The former traffic-light coalition, with Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and State Secretary Thomas Sattelberger, began simplifying spin-offs from universities. The first startups from this initiative are now reaching the market and show that there is still a lot of prosperity to be gained here.
On working hours, the piece argues for more flexibility: if the daily maximum working time of eight hours were abolished, some shift workers might have to work longer – but others could arrange their time more flexibly and better reconcile work and family. A four-day week without reducing working hours would become possible.
Health Minister Nina Warken has already begun uncomfortable reforms. Friedrich Merz would also have other options, according to the FAZ. EuroPulse reported on June 11, 2026, about Merz’s government statement before the EU summit, in which he advocated reforms (europulse.today).
Source: www.faz.net
