Germany

[DE] Berlin and Brandenburg Public Broadcasting Authorities Merge

IRIS 2003-1:1/14

Alexander Scheuer

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

With the exchange of ratification documents between the current Mayor of the Berlin Land and the Minister-President of the Brandenburg Land, the merger of the two regional broadcasting authorities was officially completed on 29 November 2002. The broadcasting authorities, Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB) have therefore amalgamated to form a single public service broadcaster known as Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) (see IRIS 2002-7: 8).

The Inter-State Agreement, which needed the approval of the parliaments of both Länder, was given the green light by the Berlin Parliament on 31 October 2002, after the Brandenburg Parliament had approved it on 9 October 2002.

The Inter-State Agreement entered into force on 1 December 2002. The RBB Broadcasting Council, which had to be set up by the end of the year, was established on 18 December 2002. From a legal point of view, the new joint body will officially replace ORB and SFB by 1 June 2003 at the latest.