Ministry of the Interior rejects allegations of cuts in administrative digitization

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) has rejected reports that only three million euros would be available for services under the Online Access Act (OZG) in the coming year. A much higher amount would be available from unused funds. Instead of the three reported and formally estimated in the budget, around 300 million euros would be available for administrative digitization in the budget of the BMI in the coming year, said a spokeswoman for the ministry at noon in Berlin. The funds are thus in a comparable amount as planned this year.

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Nevertheless, states, municipalities and other departments would have to take action themselves: the OZG funds were intended as a financial booster from the outset only for a limited period of time and for specific tasks. In the future, the digitization of administration will be financed from their own budget titles in their own competence.

Confederation sees obligations fulfilled

In recent years, the federal government has provided massive support to federal departments and states, with the states alone being provided with 1.35 billion euros. The federal government has fulfilled its own obligations, core tasks such as the BundID have now been completed and are operational, according to the spokeswoman: “Central services that are important for citizens are already available online.” For example, the applications for housing benefit and citizen benefit and public procurement have been successfully digitized. The remaining OZG services from the federal government would be available by the end of 2023 and transferred to regular operation.

The Federal Digital Ministry also sees the division of tasks as a natural and agreed process. The fact that further administrative digitization would be the responsibility of the responsible departments and levels such as federal states and municipalities was planned from the outset and agreed by the government with the federal digital strategy adopted in 2022. In the past, it was “not always a problem of money, but often a question of competence,” said the spokesman for the Digital Ministry. The digital strategy made clear specifications here.

Criticism of the insufficient allocation of the administrative digitization post to just one percent of the previous funds had been voiced in the past few days by business, the Bundestag and expert groups. Monika Schnitzer, Chairwoman of the Council of Experts for the Assessment of the Overall Economic Situation, described the plans as “saving at the wrong end”.

(sigh)

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