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VdZ Interview with Ms. Gönner: Companies Need a Functioning Government
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) is calling for far-reaching reforms to create a more efficient government. Through its expert group on the Modern State, the federation has developed concrete proposals for faster procedures, better legislation, and less bureaucracy. In an interview, BDI Chief Executive Tanja Gönner explains why, from the industry’s perspective, the modernization of the state has become a key issue for the future.
Government of the Future: In 2025, the BDI launched the Expert Group on the Modern State. What role is it intended to play?
Tanja Gönner: At the BDI, we are convinced that comprehensive government modernization is an important—if not the central—lever for restoring Germany’s competitiveness. Industrial production in Germany has been declining since 2022, and capacity utilization currently stands at only three-quarters. For 2026, we no longer anticipate a recovery but rather renewed stagnation. The pressure on Germany as an industrial hub is growing. Geopolitical developments are exacerbating the current situation, but they are not the root cause. Rather, the lack of comprehensive structural reforms is hindering economic growth and eroding our prosperity.
The Initiative for an Effective State and the re:form project have already presented valuable modernization agendas. The expert panel has taken up some of these. In addition, the 15 experts from all levels of politics, administration, business, academia, and the legal profession have developed concrete reform proposals based on their practical knowledge. The guiding question was: What do businesses need to be able to collaborate efficiently with the government? The joint perspective of business, government, and academia has produced practical solutions that truly enable transformation and growth. The expert group focused on developing concrete recommendations for action to constructively—yet in a way that prioritizes implementation—complement the sound approaches outlined in the federal government’s modernization agenda and the Federal Modernization Agenda.
VdZ: Why is government modernization so important, especially for industry?
Gönner: With over 200 interactions with government agencies per year, companies are the “power users” of the public administration. They rely on an effective and digitally well-equipped administrative apparatus that enables fast approval processes and ensures planning certainty. If the German public administration were to reach the level of digitization achieved by the Danish public administration, gross domestic product could grow by 2.7 percent annually. Efficient, practical, and end-to-end digitized administrative procedures are the key prerequisite for a functioning interface between the government and industry and, at the same time, an important location factor.
