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Not less Europe. Less German extra bureaucracy.

A position paper in 28 slides: data protection, energy management, hospitality, package travel and electricity tariffs. Where Germany goes beyond the EU minimum, how Denmark and Sweden handle it, and what test every German extra burden should have to pass.

28 slides, 6:16 minutes (MP4, 21 MB). Differing from the video: the 146 billion euros from the ifo Institute are the economic output Germany forwent on average per year from 2015 to 2022, compared with a scenario of comprehensive reduction of bureaucracy from 2015 onwards; the study gives 4.6 rather than 4.8 per cent more real gross domestic product per head.[1] The GDPR ties the duty to appoint a data protection officer to the core activity and the scale of processing, not to a risk.[2] The evidence for all five examples is below the video.

By Andreas W. Herb, Founder and CEO MBG Group, Paderborn

4 minutes read22 sources0 correctionsDisclosure

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Contents

Many of the obligations that businesses attribute to Brussels come from Berlin: in some places Germany implements EU rules more strictly than the EU requires. The video shows five such cases and compares them with Denmark and Sweden. The demand: the EU minimum as the rule, German extra burdens only with a comprehensible benefit, quantified costs and binding review.

The five examples and the evidence for them

Where Germany demands more than the EU
AreaGermanyEU minimumNeighbouring country
Data protection officerRequired as soon as, as a rule, at least 20 people are permanently engaged in automated processing of personal data[3]Required only where the core activity calls for large-scale monitoring or where special categories of data are processed on a large scale[2]Denmark: no additional headcount threshold[4]
Energy managementEnergy or environmental management system above a consumption of 7.5 gigawatt hours a year[5]Energy management system above 85 terajoules, around 23.6 gigawatt hours[6]Denmark: 85 terajoules[7]
Working conditions in digital formWritten text form permitted, but not for employees in restaurants, hotels and further sectors under § 2a of the Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz, the act against undeclared work[8][9]Electronic form permitted where it is accessible, storable, printable and transmission is documented[10]Denmark: electronic, with no sectoral exception[11]
Day tripsExemption from package travel law only up to a price of 500 euros[12]Exemption for trips of under 24 hours without an overnight stay, with no price limit[13]–
Dynamic electricity tariffsSince 2025 all suppliers are obliged to offer them to customers with a smart meter[14]In the 2019 version: required for suppliers with more than 200,000 final customers[15]Sweden: from more than 200,000 customers[16]

On two of the examples the federal government is already moving. Its draft act raises the threshold for energy management to 23.6 gigawatt hours; according to the explanatory memorandum around 7,868 companies would then no longer be obliged, and the relief amounts to around 444 million euros a year. The Bundestag held a hearing on the draft on 5 October 2026; it has not been adopted.[17][18] According to its modernisation agenda the federal government intends to abolish the duty to appoint a data protection officer from 20 people by the end of 2026; there is as yet no draft act for this.[19]

How Denmark and Sweden handle it

Denmark has given itself principles for implementing EU law: national rules should as a matter of principle not go beyond the EU minimum requirements, latitude and exemptions should be used, and Danish businesses should not be worse placed in competition than in comparable EU countries. The government may depart from this where substantial interests argue for it.[20] Sweden requires ministries and authorities to give reasons where an implementation proposal goes beyond the minimum of a directive.[21]

What is at stake

In 2024 the ifo Institute calculated that from 2015 to 2022 Germany forwent on average 146 billion euros of economic output a year, measured against a scenario in which bureaucracy had been comprehensively reduced in 2015.[1][22] The video itself says what the figure is not: not a promise for every year, and not a sum of the five examples.

The proposal at the end: every German extra burden should have to pass a test. The starting point is the EU minimum, and every additional obligation is shown separately. Benefit and cost are disclosed, the neighbours’ rules are compared beforehand, and every exception is justified and reviewed regularly.

The video only loads once you start it. It does not play by itself, and it does not measure who is watching.

CHECK

What was checked before publication

  • All 28 slides of the video have been viewed in their finished state and checked against the primary sources, as at 21 October 2026. The sound track was not listened to. No written position paper was available to the editorial team; the basis is the video.
  • Confirmed: the German thresholds and exemptions in all five examples, the EU minimum standards, the rules in Denmark and Sweden, the impact assessment of 444 million euros covering 7,868 companies, and the hearing on 5 October 2026.
  • Differing from the video: the 146 billion euros from the ifo Institute are a retrospective look at 2015 to 2022, not a “long-term value creation potential”; the study gives 4.6 rather than 4.8 per cent more real gross domestic product per head. The GDPR ties the data protection officer to the core activity and the scale of processing; it does not name a risk as a criterion. The caption states both.
  • The EU electricity market directive was amended in 2024. Whether the threshold of 200,000 customers has since applied to dynamic tariffs or to fixed-price contracts is left open by the German wording; Sweden applies it to dynamic tariffs.

SOURCES

Sources

Every number in the text leads to its source. The origin is given at each entry: official, media report, trade association, institute or data portal. Titles stay in the original language, so that each document can still be found.

  1. [1] ifo Institut im Auftrag der IHK für München und Oberbayern, Oktober 2024

    Entgangene Wirtschaftsleistung durch hohen Bürokratieaufwand (Falck, Guo, Pfaffl)

    Institute or public body↑ back to the text

  2. [2] Europäisches Parlament und Rat, ABl. L 119 vom 04.05.2016

    Verordnung (EU) 2016/679, Datenschutz-Grundverordnung, Art. 37

    Official source↑ back to the text

  3. [3] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, § 38 Abs. 1

    Official source↑ back to the text

  4. [4] Datatilsynet (dänische Datenschutzbehörde), abgerufen 21.10.2026

    Databeskyttelsesrådgivere (DPO'er)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  5. [5] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Energieeffizienzgesetz, § 8 Abs. 1

    Official source↑ back to the text

  6. [6] Europäisches Parlament und Rat, ABl. L 231 vom 20.09.2023

    Richtlinie (EU) 2023/1791 zur Energieeffizienz, Art. 11 Abs. 1 und 2

    Official source↑ back to the text

  7. [7] Retsinformation (Dänemark), 18.09.2025

    Bekendtgørelse nr. 1138 om energisyn og energiledelse, § 3

    Official source↑ back to the text

  8. [8] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Nachweisgesetz, § 2 Abs. 1 Sätze 2 und 6

    Official source↑ back to the text

  9. [9] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz, § 2a Abs. 1 Nr. 2 (Gaststätten- und Beherbergungsgewerbe)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  10. [10] Europäisches Parlament und Rat, ABl. L 186 vom 11.07.2019

    Richtlinie (EU) 2019/1152 über transparente und vorhersehbare Arbeitsbedingungen, Art. 3

    Official source↑ back to the text

  11. [11] Retsinformation (Dänemark), 16.05.2023

    Lov nr. 501 om ansættelsesbeviser og visse arbejdsvilkår, § 3 Stk. 3

    Official source↑ back to the text

  12. [12] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, § 651a Abs. 5 Nr. 2

    Official source↑ back to the text

  13. [13] Europäisches Parlament und Rat, ABl. L 326 vom 11.12.2015

    Richtlinie (EU) 2015/2302 über Pauschalreisen, Art. 2 Abs. 2 Buchst. a

    Official source↑ back to the text

  14. [14] Bundesministerium der Justiz

    Energiewirtschaftsgesetz, § 41a Abs. 2

    Official source↑ back to the text

  15. [15] Europäisches Parlament und Rat, ABl. L 158 vom 14.06.2019

    Richtlinie (EU) 2019/944 über den Elektrizitätsbinnenmarkt, Art. 11 Abs. 1 (Fassung 2019; geändert durch Richtlinie (EU) 2024/1711)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  16. [16] Sveriges riksdag, Stand SFS 2026:1298

    Ellag (1997:857), 9 kap. 21 §

    Official source↑ back to the text

  17. [17] Deutscher Bundestag, 16.09.2026

    Drucksache 21/8027: Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Beschleunigung der Umsetzung der Energieeffizienzrichtlinie (Art. 1 Nr. 6, Erfüllungsaufwand S. 44)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  18. [18] Deutscher Bundestag, 05.10.2026

    Anhörung zur Energieeffizienzrichtlinie im Ausschuss für Wirtschaft und Energie (Textarchiv)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  19. [19] Bundesregierung, 04.12.2025

    Föderale Modernisierungsagenda (Maßnahme 160: Aufhebung des § 38 Abs. 1 BDSG bis 31.12.2026)

    Official source↑ back to the text

  20. [20] Erhvervsstyrelsen (dänische Wirtschaftsbehörde), aktualisiert 27.11.2019

    Vejledning om principper for implementering af erhvervsrettet EU-regulering

    Official source↑ back to the text

  21. [21] Sveriges riksdag, 27.03.2024

    Förordning (2024:183) om konsekvensutredningar, §§ 9 und 10

    Official source↑ back to the text

  22. [22] ifo Institut, 14.11.2024

    Bürokratie in Deutschland kostet jährlich bis zu 146 Milliarden Euro (Pressemitteilung)

    Institute or public body↑ back to the text

CORRECTIONS

Corrections

No corrections since publication on 21/10/2026. Every substantive change appears here with its date, reason and previous wording.

This page is opinion. Our fact checks are not.