Administrative simplification? “An ongoing process,” according to the economy minister (DP). Better still, a state of mind, one embodied in the creation of a directorate general dedicated to administrative simplification. This directorate covers five main areas of activity: the right of establishment; commercial development (the directorate oversees the commercial register and the “retail report” of the National Observatory for SMEs); administrative simplification; the digitalisation of SMEs; and their sustainable development.
In order to identify the expectations of businesses as closely as possible, the ministry has adopted a bottom-up approach. Working “closely” with the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Trades, the Craft Federation and Horesca, five sets of measures have been identified. “Major reforms,” says the minister.
Fewer administrative constraints and more aid
—Chief among these is the consolidation into a single procedure of the procedures involved in applying for an establishment permit and obtaining VAT and employer numbers. Until now, these procedures were handled by the economy ministry, the finance ministry and the Joint Social Security Centre. These three procedures will give way to a single, integrated, digitised procedure, which “will save entrepreneurs precious time.”
—The commercial register will be extended to economic zones. “Our aim is to map all communal, regional and national economic activity zones, as well as special economic zones, in order to optimise land management and improve access for SMEs to new sites where they can develop,” says Delles, for whom this scheme is a concrete response to the problem of a lack of surface area and will be able to help facilitate the transfer of businesses.
—State aid will be simplified and new packages for SMEs will be created. The framework law on aid for SMEs, research and the environment will be amended to make it easier to understand. Procedures will be simplified for SMEs while the processing of applications will be digitised and take into account the ‘once only’ principles carried by digitisation minister (DP)--and “silence is equivalent to agreement.” Two new packages, comprising services provided to businesses, will be created: one focusing on cybersecurity and the other on artificial intelligence.
—While uncertainty surrounds the fate of the Corporate Sustainability Duty of Care (CS3D) and the Sustainability Reporting Directive (SRD) in terms of their transposition into national law following the tabling of from the European Commission on 26 February 2025, the government will, in collaboration with the Chambers of Commerce and Crafts, develop an online tool for sustainability reporting. The tool will be harmonised with European standards and access will be free for SMEs.
—Finally, in order to facilitate the application of the ‘once only’ principle, an application will be deployed within the economy ministry enabling administrations to automatically share the information they need without having to ask companies again.
Waiting for a next step
This package of measures has been well received by the director of the Chamber of Commerce, , and the director of the Chamber of Trades, . The latter hopes that it will have a positive impact on the productivity and profitability of his flock. “The proportion of employees assigned to administrative tasks has risen from 11% in 1990 to 35% in 2024,” he says.
Thelen is taking Delles at his word that administrative simplification is an ongoing process, and intends to keep up the pressure: “With the next economic barometer expected in the coming weeks, we will identify the concrete expectations of businesses and their priorities.” This is information that he intends to pass on to the minister very quickly.
All the measures presented will be included in bills that the ministry hopes to table very quickly.
This article in French.