Tübingen Mayor Palmer to Tackle Bureaucracy in Baden-Württemberg

Tübingen Mayor Boris Palmer has taken on a new, unpaid role as a consultant tasked with tackling bureaucracy in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. For the next two years, Palmer will work to simplify the state's complex regulations, aiming to "cut, trim, and prune" the "jungle of rules."

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The time is ripe. We made the rules ourselves, so we can change them.

Palmer, who is not affiliated with any political party, plans to approach the task with precision, likening it to the careful pruning of an old fruit tree. He explained that radical cuts can often lead to unintended consequences, such as the rapid regrowth of new shoots, much like the mythological Hydra. Instead, he advocates for targeted interventions that remove only what obstructs growth, allowing the system to "calm down and bear good fruit again."

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I don't know about blackberry bushes, but I know about fruit trees.

He intends to develop ideas and present proposals to Minister-President Cem Özdemir and Deputy Minister-President Manuel Hagel. Palmer brought a pruning shear, an heirloom from his father, Helmut Palmer, a renowned fruit tree pruner, to symbolize his approach. The mayor believes that since the rules were created by people, they can also be changed by people, emphasizing a hands-on, precise method to address the dense network of regulations that has grown over decades and is seen as stifling the economy.

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That's like the Hydra from mythology – or like bureaucracy: for one rule you remove, ten new ones are created. You never get anywhere.