Germany: Reforms adopted but funding frozen

IN BRIEF: 

• The state premiers have decided on reforms to public broadcasting.
• The state treaty provides a change of the procedure for setting the broadcasting fee, however the increase of contribution has been postponed until 2027.
• ZDF and ARD are upholding their constitutional complaint, since the initial situation has not changed.

IN FULL: 

A state treaty on reforms to the German public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio was adopted at the Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK) on 12 December. The awaited decision on the future of the public service media was welcomed by the presidents of the organisations, but with some discontent.

“The ZDF is very willing to reform. We are in the middle of the biggest reform restructuring phase in our history, with great support from our committees. But we need sufficient funding to be able to offer the quality of our program to all viewers,” said ZDF’s Director General, Dr Norbert Himmler

Read more: ZDF lodges constitutional complaint

The amount of the broadcasting fee is to remain at €18.36 for the time being, despite the KEF recommendations for an increase of the public broadcasters’ funding. The KEF commission had advised a new broadcasting fee amounting to €18.94.

According to the Brandenburg State Chancellery, the financing of the public media organisations will be reorganised from 2027.

Until then, the Brandenburg State Chancellery said that ZDF, ARD and Deutschaldradio could use their reserves if necessary, “to make up for funding deficits in the coming years”. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) said he expected ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio to “make even more of an effort and use the savings and structural optimisation opportunities that are already possible today.”

On Friday, ZDF announced the television council had approved the ZDF budget for the 2025, based on the KEF-recommended fee of €18.94 per month. “I am convinced that we will not only survive in a challenging environment, but will also be able to shape it – with orientation in a fragmented media world and with the power to integrate society. Already in the early federal election, our editorial teams will support the formation of social opinion with a wide range of information and discussion offerings and thus make the value of public broadcasting directly tangible,” stated Himmler.

The new mechanisms that were decided on in the state treaty were meant to simplify the procedure to decide on the amount of the future broadcasting fees.

The state treaty also included reforms relating to the protection of minors in the media, and strengthening the principle of self-regulation, giving self-regulatory bodies new powers in the technical protection of minors in the media.

These amendments were added to the efficiency reforms that public broadcasters already had to consider earlier in October.

“[The consitutional complaint] is aimed at ensuring that the federal states adhere to the currently valid constitutional procedure for determining the broadcasting contribution independently of governmental determination” – Dr. Norbert Himmler, Director General of ZDF

The complaint remains  

In November, ARD and ZDF filed a lawsuit with the Federal Constitutional Court to increase the broadcasting fee. “The independence of our reporting stands and falls with the independence of our financing” said Himmler, when ARD and ZDF filed the constitutional complaint.

The two institutions have since decided to uphold their constitutional complaint, as the initial situation has not changed.

“[…] it was not decided to implement the KEF recommendation for an adjustment of the broadcasting contribution from January 2025. This is the only reason why the constitutional complaint was lodged in Karlsruhe. It is aimed at ensuring that the federal states adhere to the currently valid constitutional procedure for determining the broadcasting contribution independently of governmental determination,” argued Norbert Himmler.

The court could establish a fee that states would be required to follow, but the timing of the court’s ruling is uncertain. Meanwhile, several federal states have urged the broadcasters to retract their complaint.

Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of the States, Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), and the Co-Chairman, Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) who led the MPK in December warned that the lawsuit filed by the two public broadcasters “has made the decision-making process significantly more difficult”.

But the Director General of ARD, Kai Gniffke defended ARD and ZDF’s legal action. “This makes it clear once again that the states are not adhering to the constitutional procedure for implementing the KEF proposal. That is why it was right to have this question examined by the Federal Constitutional Court and not to wait for another conference of prime ministers.”