Germany Design Report 2019-2021 – For Public Comment

In 2020, 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 ... published the Design Report for 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... (2019-2021). The report covers the development of the action plan and the design of its commitments.

In Germany, the IRM researcher Dieter Zinnbauer’s findings are summarized below:

“Germany’s second action plan 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.”

And in German:

“Der zweite deutsche nationale Aktionsplan führt die Schwerpunktthemen Offene Daten und Bürgerbeteiligung in der Entscheidungsfindung fort. Besonders hervorzuheben sind u.a. Verpflichtungen, die sich eine offenere deutsche Außenpolitik, mehr öffentliche Beteiligungsformate in der Politikgestaltung oder eine Stärkung der Datensouveränität in Nordrhein-Westfalen zum Ziel setzen. Deutschlands nächster Aktionsplan könnte Themenschwerpunkte im Bereich Klimaschutz, Lobbytransparenz und in Bezug auf die Ausweitung Offener-Daten-Praktiken auf Länderebene setzen.”

The version of the report for public comment is available in English and in German below. The two-week public comment period closed 17 November 2020.