Scholz calls for a broad pact to slash bureaucracy and modernize Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged Germany’s opposition and regional governments to help slash a “thicket of bureaucracy” that slows down Europe’s biggest economy, as his government grapples with poor poll ratings and a reputation for internal strife half way through its term. Scholz told lawmakers on Wednesday that his governing coalition has begun making Germany less complicated and bureaucratic. But he appealed to highly decentralized Germany’s 16 state governments, local officials and the opposition to join in making the country faster, more modern and more secure. That would include doing more to streamline notoriously lengthy planning processes, move forward the country’s famously slow digitization and speed the building of new homes.