German bureaucracy wasting public money, says taxpayers' association

The German taxpayers' association called on politicians to reduce bureaucracy, which it says is wasting public money, in its annual report published on Wednesday.

The report said that despite its empty coffers, the German state continues to waste many millions of euros of taxpayers' money, with excessive bureaucracy causing high costs.

According to the report, "year after year, billions of euros of taxpayers' money seep away because of rampant bureaucracy, often with only questionable benefits or even real economic damage."

The report provides 100 examples from local, state and national levels, highlighting for the 52nd time where it considers public money is being wasted.

At the presentation of the report in Berlin, the association's president, Reiner Holznagel, said that "common sense is often replaced with bureaucratic rules."

Holznagel cited an example from the western German town of Biedenkopf where a diving board tower is being dismantled because the swimming pool below is 5 centimetres too shallow. He said there had not been an accident at the pool in decades.

He called on politicians to reduce bureaucracy: "Have more courage to eliminate nonsense, to change or rethink structures."