Germany

[DE] New Inter-State Broadcasting Agreements Being Prepared

IRIS 2008-2:1/14

Alexander Scheuer

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

Following the signature of the 10. Rundfunkänderungs-Staatsvertrag (10th amendment to the Inter-State Broadcasting Agreement - 10. RÄStV) by the Minister-Presidents of the Länder on 19 December 2007, further amendments to the law governing broadcasting and similar telemedia in Germany have been proposed. The new provisions, which still require the approval of the Land parliaments if they are to enter into force as predicted on 1 September 2008, particularly concern the reform of the supervisory structure for private broadcasting and the expansion of platform regulation.

With regard to the fixing of the broadcasting licence fees for the 2009-2012 period in an 11th RÄStV , the decision of the Kommission zur Ermittlung des Finanzbedarfes der Rundfunkanstalten (Committee for the establishment of broadcasters' financial needs - KEF) of 27 November 2007 is also significant. In its decision, the KEF recommends that the Länder increase the fees to EUR 17.98 (TV licence fee) in the future. In an earlier draft of the so-called 16. KEF-Bericht (16th KEF report), the committee had proposed a slightly lower fee, but increased it after taking into account the views of the broadcasters and a meeting with their representatives and those of the Bundesländer at the end of November 2007. The KEF report will be officially launched at the end of January 2008.