Thuringia’s Voigt maps out second deregulation law, cabinet to weigh draft in September

Thuringia’s CDU-led government is preparing a second round of regulatory cuts, aiming to replace blanket checks with a risk-based approach that applies controls only where they are needed. Minister President Mario Voigt outlined the plan in an interview with the German Press Agency in Erfurt.

A follow-up to June’s first law

The first Thüringer Entlastungsgesetz (Thuringia Relief Act) was adopted by the Landtag at the end of June. That legislation began the process of reducing administrative burdens on businesses, municipalities and citizens, but Voigt signalled that further steps would follow quickly. He said the government wanted to “stay on the reform process” and that a second draft would come before the cabinet shortly after the summer break.

We will first deal with the second draft bill in the cabinet in September. We want to stay on the reform process.

Risk-based controls

A central element of the new package is a shift toward risk-based supervision. Instead of routine checks that apply equally to all actors, the authorities would weigh where interventions are genuinely necessary. Voigt described the philosophy as “less control, more trust”.

We want controls only where they are really necessary.

The goal is to free up administrative capacity and reduce the compliance burden on companies and local authorities. The approach would require departments to define risk criteria, with low-risk activities facing lighter oversight. No concrete list of affected regulations has yet been published.

Legislative timetable

The cabinet’s first discussion of the second draft is planned for September. Voigt said the government intended to keep the reform moving quickly, with the aim of presenting a bill to the Landtag before the end of 2026. The timeline puts additional pressure on ministries to identify rules that can be eliminated or simplified without undermining legal protections.

Political background

The deregulation drive is a signature theme of Voigt’s CDU-led coalition. The first relief act was passed after months of consultation with trade bodies and local government associations, which had long complained about paperwork and inspection routines. The second law is expected to deepen those changes and extend the “more trust” principle across further competences. Voigt did not name specific sectors, but the mention of both business and municipalities suggests the package will cover economic permits, municipal planning procedures, or reporting duties.

The cabinet will take up the draft when ministers return from the summer break in September.