Germany Design Report 2019-2021
- Action Plan: Germany Action Plan 2019-2021
- Dates Under Review: 2019-2021
- Report Publication Year: 2020
- Researcher: Dieter Zinnbauer
Germany’s second action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... continues to focus on open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... and civic participation in decision-making processes. Notable commitments include improving the openness of German foreign policy, expanding public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... in rule-making, and strengthening data sovereignty in North Rhine-Westphalia. Germany’s next action plan could address climate change, lobbyingLobbying transparency allows the public to ensure that there is diversity of participation and contribution to public decision-making. Technical specifications: Policies and actions affecting lobbying... transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, and expanding innovative open data practices at the state level.
The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Germany joined OGP in 2016. Since, Germany has implemented one action plan. This report evaluates the design of Germany’s second action plan.
General overview of action plan
Germany continues to perform strongly in most major areas of open government, and Germans continue to report high levels of trust in the federal government and in the opportunities to participate in political life. Germany’s second action plan builds on the foundations established under the first plan, particularly around open data and civic participation in certain policy areas. The second action plan also includes five commitments from German laender (states).
The development of Germany’s second action plan followed a two-track consultation process similar to that used in developing the first plan. However, the second action plan saw a deeper level of engagement with stakeholders, as well as detailed feedback on stakeholder proposals and the inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... of state-level initiatives. Despite the deeper level of engagement, several major civil society priorities did not make it into the final action plan. To help reduce this gap in the next plan, Germany could consider an additional opportunity for participants to provide feedback on the final commitments selected. It could also consider bringing the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... in the country in line with OGP’s Participation and Co-creation StandardsCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders is at the heart of the OGP process. The Participation and Co-Creation Standards are intended to support this collaboration throug....
Noteworthy commitments in Germany’s second action plan include improving the transparency of German foreign policy, including the digitization of historical documents of the Federal Foreign Office (CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 2). Commitment 5 builds on the improvements in transparency of development data and dialogue in development cooperation achieved during the first action plan, while Commitment 8 aims to improve public understanding and participation in the law-making process. Additionally, Commitment 12 aims to strengthen data sovereignty in North Rhine-Westphalia and could improve public access to categories of privatized data that have considerable public value.
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Moving forward | Status at the end of implementation cycle |
| 2. Civil society dialogue on foreign policy
Expand and deepen citizen engagement in foreign policymaking and continue digitizing the Federal Foreign Office’s Political Archive. |
During implementation, the Federal Foreign Office could actively solicit user feedback and respond with how this feedback was incorporated. The digitization of the political archive could be guided by clear targets. The Office can publish user feedback on the archive and fully explain which segments of files are not made available. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| 5. Transparency and participation in development cooperation
Improve the quality and scope of data in development cooperation and establish broader dialogue on reporting in this area, as well as on greater data use and integration. |
For successful implementation, the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) could ensure high up-take of International AidMore and better information about aid helps partner countries and donor institutions plan and manage aid resources more effectively, parliaments and civil society to hold governments accountable for t... Transparency Initiative (IATI) standards by new reporting entities as well as transparent tracking of comments and follow-ups in the planned feedback system. BMZ could also develop customizable visualizations and integration with other development-related information systems. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| 8. Better regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... through participation and testing
Expand public participation in drafting rules and make laws and regulations easily comprehensible and freely available |
During implementation, the Federal Chancellery could consider adding explanatory notes to improve the comprehensibility of laws and develop user-friendly guides to the provisions of the law and its applications. The Federal Chancellery could also develop guides on how to participate in the early stages of planning new laws, namely the pre-drafting scenarios before drafting begins. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| 12. Strengthening data sovereignty in North Rhine-Westphalia
Identify and address challenges for public administrations with regard to data sovereignty in North Rhine Westphalia |
To maximize the impact of this commitment, the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Economic Affairs could ensure that the scoping exercise and guidance materials are fully relevant to and generated in cooperation with municipalities in other German states. It could also consider expanding the current focus on data in public-private partnerships to data- sharing possibilities with other private entities whose services (such as ride or flat-sharing) intersect with essential local regulatory functions. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
Recommendations
IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan. Please refer to Section V: General Recommendations for more details on each of the below recommendations.
Table 3. Five KEY IRM Recommendations
| Add a further consultation step for the draft action plan and strengthen the institutional basis for more collaborative design and stewardship of the action plan. |
| Expand and systematize outreach to and involvement of actors at local and state levels, as well as parliament and the parliamentary administration. |
| Establish a thematic focus on climate change: the green transformation and open government. |
| Revisit civil society and international suggestions on lobbying (a mandatory, effectively enforced registry) and conflict-of-interest management (e.g., better reporting on assets, incomes, and interests). Include a strong commitment to maximize the efficacy of any possible regulations in these areas. |
| Consider expanding innovative state-level commitments on adopting open data standards and data sovereignty. |
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