After the recent cabinet retreat, the Federal Association of Cooperating SMEs (BKM) has formulated clear expectations towards the German government. The association demands that the announced measures to strengthen growth and competitiveness be substantiated by concrete legislative steps. The focus is primarily on two adjustments, described as overdue, which are considered essential for cooperating SMEs.
The first key demand concerns working time regulations. The BKM insists on the conversion from daily to weekly maximum working hours, as laid down in the coalition agreement. This change is seen as essential for increased flexibility within businesses and for employees. Günter Althaus, President of the BKM and CEO of Reformhaus eG, emphasised in this context that reforms announced last year but not yet implemented now urgently need to be realised. He views the coalition agreement as a concrete mandate.
Working Time Flexibility as a Necessity
In an ever-changing working world, both companies and their employees require more flexibility and greater autonomy over their time. The BKM therefore advocates for a general replacement of legally fixed daily maximum working hours with a weekly upper limit, without restriction to specific types of businesses. Such an adjustment would enable companies to respond more effectively to temporary peak orders and fluctuating workloads. For employees, this would mean greater scope for individual planning and additional personal freedom, while maintaining overall working hours. The recent statement by Head of the Chancellery Nina Warken, who underlined the necessity of changes to the Working Hours Act, is regarded by the BKM as an important signal that should now quickly lead to a draft bill.
Demand for Electricity Tax Relief for All SMEs
Another central demand of the BKM concerns the electricity tax. The association opposes continued unequal treatment. The German government had already permanently reduced the electricity tax for manufacturing companies as well as for agriculture and forestry to the European minimum level. However, the trade and services sectors have so far been excluded from this specific relief. Günter Althaus made it clear that traders, service providers, and a large number of craft businesses are currently bearing high electricity costs. Relief only in the 2030s is not sustainable for many of these companies. The electricity tax must therefore be reduced to the EU minimum for all companies to sustainably secure the competitiveness of SMEs as the backbone of the German economy.
The BKM emphasises that, despite increasing global challenges in geopolitics and world trade, the German government must not disregard the importance of SMEs for the German economy. The current circumstances rather require targeted relief impulses to strengthen the resilience and innovative capacity of businesses.
