86 cents more: Saxony-Anhalt single-handedly blocked the increase in the radio license fee at the turn of the year. It doesn’t work that way, says Karlsruhe. The countries have to do it again.
Karlsruhe – Consumers have to pay more for public broadcasting. The Federal Constitutional Court has ordered the broadcasting fee to be increased by 86 cents per month to 18.36 euros until the federal states – together – decide on a new fee.
According to the information, this has been retroactive since July 20. In addition, the Karlsruhe court reprimanded Saxony-Anhalt, which was the only state that had not approved a negotiated state treaty to increase the contribution. Constitutional complaints from ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio were therefore successful. The broadcasters welcomed the decision. Criticism came from the AfD, for example. (Az. 1 BvR 2756/20 et al.)
Breathe a sigh of relief at the ÖRR
The ARD chairman Tom Buhrow said: “The decision enables us to continue to make the best possible program for the people in the coming years.” The broadcasting fee must be set free of political interests.
ZDF director Thomas Bellut sees the independence of public broadcasters strengthened. His colleague from Deutschlandradio, Stefan Raue, looked at the future contribution procedure: “For the first time, the federal community of responsibility is addressed with this clarity, in which every state is” jointly responsible “.” Going it alone as in Saxony-Anhalt is not permitted.
The German Association of Journalists reacted with relief to the decision.
When the court rejected urgent applications from the broadcasters shortly before Christmas, ARD and Deutschlandradio announced austerity measures for the houses, which the audience will feel.
Now the contribution service of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio has to prepare the implementation of the court decision. “This is now an administrative and logistical task, which is of course a bit complex with around 40 million contribution accounts,” said Buhrow of the dpa.
Reactions from AfD and Haseloff
The AfD, on the other hand, criticized the decision harshly. “The judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court is deeply undemocratic because it undermines the co-determination of the federal states when setting the contribution,” said party leader Tino Chrupalla. Public broadcasting must be converted into a payment model. Every citizen should be free to decide whether he wants to subscribe to the program.
After the defeat of Saxony-Anhalt, the incumbent Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) defended his approach in the matter. The debate about the increase alone brought positive changes to the broadcasters, he said in Magdeburg.
For example, the institutions have recently given significantly more space both in the distribution of community facilities and in the programming of Eastern Germany. Critics of the contribution increase had criticized, among other things, that the East was too rare, especially on ARD and ZDF. “It has set itself in motion very, very much and is on the right track,” said Haseloff.
He respected the decision of the court, said the head of government and emphasized the great importance of public service broadcasting. Haseloff regretted, however, that the Karlsruhe judges had not specified a new procedure for determining the amount of the contribution. It remains unclear what happens if the KEF determines a certain financial requirement that the state parliaments would then not accept. The parliaments are at least free in their decision. “That is a democracy problem, what we have here that has not been resolved.” No increase since 2009
No increase since 2009
The radio license fee is the main source of income for public broadcasters. It has been collected for each apartment since 2013 – regardless of whether or how often the offers are used. Most recently it was 17.50 euros per month. At the turn of the year it should have risen to 18.36 euros. The independent commission KEF has determined the need. The contribution was last increased in 2009, then in 2015 it was reduced to 17.50 euros per month.
With the current increase, a financial gap of 1.5 billion euros between 2021 and 2024 should be filled. In order for the state treaty negotiated accordingly to come into force, all 16 federal states would have had to agree.
Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) had withdrawn the draft law in December before the vote in the state parliament because it became apparent that his party – unlike the coalition partners SPD and Greens – would not support the increase. And the head of government did not want to make common cause with the AfD, which is known as a critic of public service broadcasting. But because all 16 state parliaments have to agree, the increase is blocked.
Court justifies increase
In times of “increased complex information on the one hand and one-sided presentations, filter bubbles, fake news, deep fakes on the other,” the importance of contribution-financed public broadcasting is growing, decided the First Senate under Court President Stephan Harbarth with the decision published on July 20th. The broadcasters should present reality in an undistorted manner through “authentic, carefully researched information that distinguishes facts and opinions” and not focus on the sensational. In this way, they formed a “counterweight that secures diversity and offers orientation”.
The legislator is responsible for ensuring that, among other things, the financial prerequisites for these tasks are given. “If a country does not fulfill its co-warranty obligation and thereby the fulfillment of the fundamental right to funding becomes impossible, this already constitutes a violation of the freedom of broadcasting,” it said.
Saxony-Anhalt had stated that it had been trying in vain among the federal states to reform the structure of public broadcasting for years. According to the court, this does not justify not agreeing to a contract agreed with all countries.
Media policy is primarily a matter of the country. In order for new regulations to come into force, the approval of all countries is currently required again and again in the absence of any other agreement, the court emphasized. If a country considers a deviation from the needs determined by the KEF to be necessary, it is up to that country to bring about the agreement of all countries. “That didn’t work.”
The Federal Constitutional Court can determine who executes its decisions. According to the Federal Constitutional Court Act, it can also regulate the manner of enforcement in individual cases.
It refrained from increasing the contribution retrospectively at the beginning of the year. According to the decision, the effects of the failure to adjust the contributions on the broadcasters must now take place in the procedure agreed upon in the international agreement. Means: A new statement by the KEF and a new state treaty are necessary.
According to the resolution, the broadcasters are entitled to “compensatory additional equipment”. The legislature must take this into account the next time the broadcasting fee is set. The additional demand that has arisen due to postponed investments and reserves should also be taken into account here, as well as any effects of the corona pandemic on the financial needs of the broadcasters and the reasonableness of contribution increases for citizens. dpa
