Germany will create a register of useful migrants. Merz: We have become too sluggish

Germany has become too sluggish, too slow and too bureaucratic, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday. He also announced the simplification of immigration policy by creating a digital platform for registering qualified migrants.

On Monday, for the first time as chancellor, Merz took part in the 19th economic summit organized by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.

– We have become too sluggish, too slow and too bureaucratic – said the head of the German government. As he emphasized, his office intends to change this.

One of the means to achieve this is to digitize immigration policy. According to Merz's announcement, in the future, qualified foreign workers will be able to register on the digital platform. Thanks to it, residence permits in Germany will be issued more efficiently. The chancellor called the project “a powerful experiment.” The initiative is to be introduced on a pilot basis in two federal states before it covers the entire country.

When he took over as chancellor in May, Merz promised to improve the economic situation and pull Germany out of the economic crisis. After more than half a year in power, the majority of voters give him a negative assessment. A survey for RTL television shows that only 16 percent Germans want him to run for the position of head of government again.

The coalition led by the Christian Democrat is regularly rocked by crises. On Monday, however, the Chancellor rejected the minority government scenario, believing that it would have a negative impact on the quality of legislative work.

In recent days, criticism of Merz has also appeared within the CDU itself. The Christian Democrat youth wing is against the government's plans for pension reform, and some CDU deputies in the Bundestag have announced they will vote against the project in parliament.

To improve the economic situation, the German coalition plans, among other things, relieve the industry of energy costs by introducing a state subsidy for 2026-2028. In addition, it intends to build new gas power plants with a total capacity of eight gigawatts by 2031. The plans also include, among others: reducing the tax on airline tickets, reducing corporate taxes from 2028 and reforming social security contributions.

From Berlin Mateusz Obremski (PAP)

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