Cover illustration from the fourth national action plan
Photo: Shutterstock (licensed)
The fourth National Action Plan (NAP) was adopted by the Federal Government in August 2023. Together with contributions from Schleswig-Holstein, Berlin and Hamburg, it outlines the ongoing activities Germany is undertaking as a participant in the Open Government Partnership (OGP). This reportevaluates the progress made at the end of 2024 in fulfilling the commitments outlined in the fourth NAP. Due to the early end of the 20th legislative period, this report replaces an interim and final report. Monitoring of the NAP’s implementation will continue in areas unaffected by discontinuity.
The Federal Government’s open government activities go beyond the voluntary commitments outlined in the fourth NAP and are not limited to the plans set out in the 2021 – 2025 coalition agreement. Many efforts to increase transparency in governance and make it more participatory and collaborative are long-term endeavours and, in some cases, even permanent tasks. As such, projects from previous action plans and initiatives can often be revisited and built upon and it has become evident that the Federal Government’s sustained commitment is yielding tangible results.
For example, Germany ranks globally among the top six countries implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (see, in German, this link). The first NAP included a corresponding commitment in this area (see, in German, this link).
The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is improving transparency around access to online vehicle registration services. The Ministry developed an interactive map that shows users which local authorities within each federal state offer online vehicle registration and where this service is not yet available digitally. Furthermore, the level of usage for this digital administrative service has also been made transparent (see, in German, this link).
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is currently drafting the Research Data Act (Forschungsdatengesetz). It aims to improve access to data from the public sector for research purposes.
On 6 March 2024, the Federal Cabinet adopted an executive footprint by amending the Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries. This new regulation requires Federal Ministries to disclose the extent to which lobbyists contributed to drafting the content of a bill in terms of its substance.
User-centred government action
On 30 August 2023, the Federal Government adopted key principles for the Digitalcheck. From the outset, all new regulations must take into account their subsequent digital implementation. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for citizens, public authorities and businesses to use services online. With the process visualisation published in Bundestag printed paper no. 20/12351 and an ex ante reduction in bureaucratic costs of 15 million euro, the bill on the Electricity Tax Act, for example, has impressively demonstrated the effectiveness of Digitalcheck’s methodological approach.
Through the introduction of Praxischecks, as outlined in the coalition agreement, the Federal Government has developed a systematic procedure to review the administrative burden arising from laws and regulations. This includes regularly involving stakeholders. Praxischecks are primarily aimed at reducing unnecessary red tape for businesses and are generally conducted as ex post evaluations, in collaboration with entrepreneurs, public officials and experts (e.g. through workshops).
With its wirksam regieren approach, the Federal Government has, since 2015, also been pursuing the goal of involving the public more intensely and at an earlier stage in the design of measures, particularly in the legislative process— ideally even before a paragraph is drafted (ex ante). To this end, the Federal Ministries, in cooperation with the Federal Chancellery, have implemented a range of projects involving the public to make political initiatives more effective and citizen-focused. Standardised instruments have emerged from this process, collectively referred to as the Bürgercheck. The Bürgercheck supports legislative ministries in tailoring the drafting of legal provisions to the needs of the public. Additionally, it ensures that aspects relevant to the public are transparently summarised for decision-makers in government and parliament, while also helping to identify undesired side-effects at an early stage.
The Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) published its annual report on the digital transition of its area of operations in January 2024 (see, in German, this link (PDF)). The seventh report is currently being prepared.
With its Open Data Kompass, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport has developed an electronic step-by-step tool to review the open data compliance of administrative data (covering data protection to machine readability). This produces a clean metadata record (that is suitable for publication) and a record of the review process. This will further strengthen and promote the provision open data within the federal administration.
These examples illustrate how open government is practised across a wide range of policy areas.
The commitments from the fourth National Action Plan for 2023–2025 can be found (in German), along with up-to-date details on their implementation at any time here.
At the time of this report (milestones last updated December 19, 2024), 14 of 15 commitments had reached a good level of implementation. Two commitments are fully implemented, eight are being implemented, four come with some milestones delayed. Commitment 1 can no longer be implemented due to the premature end of the legislative period.
There will not be an English version of the report in PDF format ( German only, click here to download PDF, 2 MB, accessible ). To understand the implementation overview of its page 10, refer to the following key:
dark green: milestone complete.
light green: implementation begun, in preparation or partially complete.
orange: implementation delayed but achievement of milestone within reference period of NAP not jeopardised.
red: Implementation halted due to premature end of the legislative period (elections February 23, 2025).
Detailed information on the individual initiatives can be accessed via Germany's OGP website (in German): https://www.open-government-deutschland.de/opengov-de/ogp/aktionsplaene-und-berichte/4-nap
