Germany

[DE] Way open to national media services agreement

IRIS 1996-7:1/27

Dorothee Schwall-Rudolph

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

The Land Presidents have reached agreement with Chancellor Helmut Kohl on the division of responsibilities for legislating on the multi-media.

The Länder will conclude a national agreement on media services, which is to take efect on 1 January 1997. This is intended to ensure that economic development of this sector can proceed with the necessary legal and planning security.

The agreement will cover a graded regulating system for media services intended for the general public which do not require licensing or prior notification. It will also guarantee free access to the transmission channels. The Federation will also be adjusting existing federal legislation (in the criminal and copyright fields, among others) to allow for the multi-media future.

This settlement has put an end to the dispute over powers which had existed for months between the Federation and the Länder.