Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed a complaint lodged by public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) concerning provisions within a state treaty agreed upon by the states of Brandenburg and Berlin in 2023.
The court announced Thursday that the provisions challenged – and found largely admissible – do not infringe upon RBB’s broadcasting freedom. According to the judges in Karlsruhe, the state legislatures have therefore met the constitutional requirements for structuring public broadcasting services.
The complaint centered on the implementing legislation for the state treaty, which establishes a new legal framework for RBB. The broadcaster argued that several provisions within the treaty violated its freedom of broadcasting, including the introduction of a directorial board alongside the existing management structure and the mandated minimum number of regional offices and studios. However, the Constitutional Court did not uphold these arguments (Decision dated July 23, 2025 – 1 BvR 2578/24).