Germany's broadcasting fee rises to 18.36 euros after court ruling

The Rundfunkbeitrag is the compulsory household fee that funds Germany's public broadcasters such as ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. In 2020 the 16 federal states agreed to raise it from 17.50 to 18.36 euros a month, following a recommendation by the KEF, the independent expert commission that assesses broadcasters' financial needs.

The increase needed approval from every state parliament. Saxony-Anhalt did not put the treaty to a vote, so the rise could not take effect on 1 January 2021. ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio then turned to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.

On 20 July 2021 the court issued an interim order, made public in August, finding that Saxony-Anhalt had violated broadcasting freedom. It provisionally set the higher fee in force from that date, until the states passed a valid rule. The Beitragsservice, the body that collects the fee, then began billing the new amount. The decision mattered as a ruling on how far states may block fee changes for political reasons, and it shaped later disputes over the fee.