(de-news.net) – In an effort to accelerate administrative decision-making and reduce bureaucratic complexity, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has put forward a proposal introducing a binding time-limit mechanism for selected administrative procedures. According to reports, General Secretary Carsten Linnemann has argued that approval and permitting processes in Germany are excessively slow and that targeted procedural streamlining could substantially enhance administrative efficiency. At the core of the proposal is a so-called fiction of approval: if the competent authority raises no objection within a three-month period, applications submitted by individuals or businesses would automatically be deemed approved by operation of law.
The initiative is designed to ease the administrative burden on citizens, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, while at the same time improving predictability and planning certainty for applicants. Under the proposal, the statutory deadline would begin only after applicants have received an immediate and verifiable confirmation of receipt, ensuring procedural clarity for both sides. The scope of the automatic approval rule would include permits for private residential construction projects such as single-family homes, larger carports, and conservatories. It would also apply to comparatively low-risk local administrative decisions, including applications for the temporary use of public sidewalks for outdoor dining areas or neighborhood events.
This approach is embedded in the so-called ‘Mainz Declaration,’ a policy paper that the CDU’s federal executive board is expected to formally adopt. The declaration emerged from a leadership retreat that had originally been planned to take place in Mainz but was postponed due to severe winter weather conditions. In presenting the document, party leaders have framed the proposal as part of a broader agenda of state modernization, emphasizing that meaningful regulatory relief must be paired with faster, more reliable administrative action if public administration is to meet contemporary demands.
Moreover, the initiative aligns with earlier commitments by the CDU to cut red tape and speed up approval procedures across different policy areas. The underlying concept of a legally defined presumption of approval in cases where early authorization does not pose a risk of irreversible harm has already been endorsed in previous federal agreements. Linnemann has reiterated that a more agile and responsive public administration is essential not only for economic dynamism but also for maintaining public confidence in state institutions, presenting the current proposal as a concrete and practicable step toward translating that principle into everyday administrative practice.