Before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in June there was a black-red-green government in Magdeburg and the coalition agreement said: “When it comes to financing public broadcasting, we are sticking to the goal of stable contributions.” Because different things were understood by this – relative contribution stability with inflation adjustment or absolute with zero cents more? – and there were also very different views on the programs of ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio, if the alliance almost broke last winter. Haseloff pacified the crisis in that he – unconstitutional, as Karlsruhe judged last week – refrained from voting on the premium increase already decided by the state leaders. Although all 15 other state parliaments had approved the law with the increase, the increase of 86 cents was blocked. The Karlsruhe judges rated this as a violation of the complicated, but non-state, three-stage procedure for determining contributions and freedom of broadcasting; they now put the higher contribution into effect until the federal states adopt a new corresponding state treaty on the contribution.
The planned alliance expects “noticeable effects” in the radio license fee
Four days after the ruling from Karlsruhe, the planned new government coalition in Saxony-Anhalt – Haseloff’s CDU, the SPD and the FDP – now agreed on a draft for their coalition agreement, and it is no wonder that many participants now after the spectacle of the previous year exactly on this paper watch. Finally, the new law required by Karlsruhe on the contribution must ultimately be passed by the Magdeburg state parliament, and the draft coalition agreement should survive member surveys at the CDU and SPD, or a party congress at the FDP. A look at the paper shows: There is something for everyone, even excitement. The term contribution stability is out, but the claim remains: “We are committed to public service broadcasting and its appropriate funding. However, its acceptance stands and falls not only with its content, but also with the amount of the broadcasting fee.” The thrift demanded by the independent finance commission KEF and an order reform are a prerequisite for the acceptance of the public broadcasters as well as for “noticeable effects” in the future contribution. The upcoming decision on the contribution is to be made “in the light of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of July 20, 2021 in the shared responsibility with the other countries” – and “possibly also with regard to a deviation from the recommendation of the KEF”. An index model in which the contribution would automatically increase over a longer period of time, and which the FDP in particular does not like, is “to be rejected”.
It sounds as if Saxony-Anhalt is staying true to its media policy – and by no means afterwards, as if the second round for the contribution increase in the Magdeburg state parliament is going to be easier than the first – they are already going in that direction Haseloff’s words after the judgment: He could not guarantee that there would be no further blockade, he said, considering the fact that the state parliaments will vote on the contribution increase according to the current procedure, but constitutionally have extremely little scope for a no. Perhaps, after reading the Magdeburg draft, the state bosses are thinking about the option that the Federal Constitutional Court has expressly given them: to solve the dilemma between freedom of parliamentarians and freedom of broadcasting in the contribution procedure by changing the procedure – before the next contribution vote.