German business association urges Bundestag to cancel summer break for reforms

German family businesses are calling on the government to expedite crucial reforms concerning taxes, the labor market, and pensions. The powerful Association of Family Businesses has urged the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, to forgo its summer recess to address these pressing issues.

Kristin Ostermann, the head of the association, stated that it is imperative to avoid a situation where individual reform measures are fragmented by various interest groups over a long summer. She emphasized that the goal should be to achieve tangible relief for businesses and their employees. Ostermann has formally requested that relevant parliamentary committees continue their work through the summer, aiming for the Bundestag to pass the reform laws in August.

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It must not happen that over the long summer, every individual measure is picked apart by different interest groups, so that in the end there is hardly any relief for companies and their employees.

The association highlights the importance of timely legislative action for businesses' planning cycles. "Everything must happen quickly so that the planned improvements to location conditions can show results as soon as possible," Ostermann noted. Many companies finalize their investment plans in the fall, requiring finalized laws to base their budget calculations upon.

The current governing coalition aims to reach agreements on several major reform projects, including those related to the pension system and income tax, before the Bundestag's summer break, which officially runs from July 11 to September 7. Coalition leaders are expected to meet on June 30 to finalize these plans. However, the proposals are unlikely to be officially adopted by the Bundestag before the recess begins.

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Everything must happen quickly so that the planned improvements to location conditions can show results as soon as possible.