Geyer is calling for urgent reforms for the public service today!

Geyer is calling for urgent reforms for the public service today!

On June 23, 2025, the newly elected dbb Federal Chairman Volker Geyer met with Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in Berlin to discuss the problems of the public service in Germany. Geyer expressed himself positively about the special fund for infrastructure and emphasized the need for effective use of funds. He emphasized that the public service must be recognized as the most important infrastructure in Germany and criticized the negligence in digitalization.

Geyer is aiming for concrete results in the coming weeks. This includes transferring the collective bargaining results to federal civil servants and revising salaries to ensure constitutional support. He also brought the topic of reducing bureaucracy into the discussion and offered the expertise of the trade union umbrella organization.

Reduction in bureaucracy and need for reform

Reducing bureaucracy is a central issue not only for Geyer, but also for the new federal government. Previous progress in reducing bureaucracy was perceived as insufficient. Critics see the Bureaucracy Relief Act IV as inadequate, particularly the reduction in the retention periods for accounting documents from ten to eight years. There is a need for agreement on three central adjustment screws for reducing bureaucracy: practical legislation, more centralization and administrative digitalization.

The challenges for authorities are increasing because new requirements from the EU and the federal government often arrive at the same time and without a common approach. Geyer rejected across-the-board job cuts and called for honest criticism of the tasks. The view that there is a lack of time, capacity, competence and money to implement these requirements is also shared. One suggestion is for the federal government to consolidate digitalization requirements in order to offer uniform solutions.

Trust and communication

During his speech, Geyer thanked public service employees for their commitment and pointed out the increasing violence against them. He called for a strengthening of trust in public institutions and respectful cooperation. On the topic of trust in the authorities, many initiatives aim to reduce fears of change and loss of power. Improved communication by the state is seen as necessary to gain citizens' trust.

A current concept, the bureaucracy check, stipulates that proposed laws are checked for their applicability in administration in order to increase efficiency. A push government strategy is also proposed, in which authorities should act proactively without requiring an application. These approaches make it clear that, in addition to the number of services available online, greater focus should also be placed on actual customer satisfaction.

Finally, Geyer appealed to politicians to clearly communicate what services they want to provide and where restrictions are necessary. The urgency of reforms in the public service was clearly emphasized. Future developments depend largely on the implementation of the reforms mentioned in order to make the public service fit for the challenges of the coming years.