"We are of course aware of the problems facing the German economy at the moment, but we aspire to return to the top," Merz said at a press conference at the Borsig Palace on Berlin's outskirts. A study by the Ifo economic institute in November showed that excessive bureaucracy costs Germany nearly 150 billion euros ($175.94 billion) a year in lost economic output. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement Advertisement"We are now going to the German Bundestag with some very concrete legislative proposals," said Merz. Cutting bureaucratic requirements by 25% in the coming years could bring savings of 16 billion euros ($18.77 billion), according to the agenda. In addition, a draft law to accelerate the development of hydrogen infrastructure by reducing bureaucracy was given the green light.