The organisational decree published by the new Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz contains important information regarding the planned structure of the new Ministry of Digitalisation and State Modernisation. Oliver Süme, Chair of the Board of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, comments:
“It is a good sign that the organisational decree for the new ministry was published so quickly and comprehensively on the very day of the Chancellor’s election! In terms of its structure and responsibilities, the new ministry already reflects in many points to what we as an association have been calling for a long time: a department with far-reaching digital competencies, its own budget and cross-departmental powers. However, the details concerning subordinate public authorities are still unclear – for example, the status of the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) or the proposed Digital Agency. The Federal Chancellery should quickly provide clarity for the ministry and the subordinate agencies.”
The association also emphasises that the issues of data protection and data use should not be separated from each other. The coalition agreement has already outlined good approaches in this regard. According to the organisational decree, the new Ministry of Digitalisation will receive data usage and data availability from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and for data policy from the former Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) – but not for data protection, which remains the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). “A division of these responsibilities would hinder the development of a strong data economy in Germany and does not correspond with the spirit of the coalition agreement, which aims to closely link data protection and data usage,” says Oliver Süme.
