The new online access law for more digital administrative services failed in the Federal Council. The draft law did not receive the required majority in the state representatives.
The modernized online access law introduced by the coalition will not come into force for the time being. The Union-led federal states refused their consent. The Bundestag passed the amendment at the end of February. From 2028 onwards, it should give citizens mandatory access to federal government services via a digital citizen account. The administration should thus become citizen-oriented and more modern.
Faeser wants Mediation Committee call
After the rejection by the Federal Council, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants to suggest to the cabinet that they call the Mediation Committee. She is ready to continue negotiating constructively “because our country needs more digital progress.” The SPD politician accused the Union-led states of stopping the further digitalization and modernization of the state.
The Union rejected the criticism. The parliamentary group’s digital policy spokesman, Reinhard Brandl, said that administrative digitization bypassing the states would never lead to a successful result. The CSU politician accused the traffic light coalition of “ignorance of the federal order” and technical errors in drafting the law.
Law should Multiple referrals impede
The new online access law should initially apply to federal administrations, but should extend to the federal states and municipalities. So far, it stipulates that the federal and state governments will develop standards in a joint committee over the next two years that are binding for everyone involved. This is also intended to prevent administrations from developing software multiple times to solve the same problem.
According to the draft law, official concerns could have been dealt with completely electronically in the future. The so-called written form requirement should be eliminated. The plan was to introduce the so-called Federal ID as a central, digital citizen account. Citizens nationwide should be able to identify themselves and submit applications. Notifications would then have been delivered via a digital mailbox.
The first online access law came into force in 2017 under Chancellor Angela Merkel. However, the original plan to digitize administrative services was not implemented.
Georg Schwarte, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, March 22, 2024 4:35 p.m