According to the Rhineland-Palatinate State Chancellery, Germany is planning a new Digital Media State Treaty (Digitaler Medien-Staatsvertrag) to implement the European Media Law.
Europe’s first media law, the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) aiming to promote media freedom, media pluralism and editorial independence in the EU has entered into force in May 2024 (for more details, see our previous blog posts here and here). However, most of its provisions will not apply until 8 August 2025. With this deadline now approaching, Member States are stepping up their implementation efforts.
Although the EMFA is a directly applicable regulation, some of its provisions resemble obligations that are more akin to those of a directive. This means that the Member States will need to adopt national legislation to transpose these rules.
Implementation of the EMFA by way of a Digital Media State Treaty
In Germany, the implementation of the EMFA will primarily be the responsibility of the federal states (die Bundesländer), since cultural policy is their exclusive constitutional responsibility. To ensure that certain regulations (such as many areas of media law) are transposed uniformly throughout Germany, the federal states typically employ the instrument of a co-legislative state treaty. The Rhineland-Palatinate State Chancellery (rheinland-pfälzische Staatskanzlei), which holds the chairmanship of the Broadcasting Commission of the German Federal States (Vorsitz in der Rundfunkkommission der Bundesländer), has recently announced that work has begun on a respective state treaty called the Digital Media State Treaty (Digitaler Medien-Staatsvertrag) to implement the EMFA.
Role of the “KEK”
We understand that the Commission for the Assessment of Concentrations in the Media Sector (Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich, KEK) is set to play a pivotal role in implementing the EMFA. The KEK is already responsible for supervising media markets and safeguarding media pluralism in Germany in certain areas. However, the implementation of new obligations under the EMFA is expected to significantly expand the role of the KEK.
Scope of the Digital Media State Treaty
For now, we hear that implementation efforts focus on three areas in particular: the development of a media ownership database (Art. 6), obligations for providers of audience measurement (Art. 24), and — most importantly— the assessment of media market concentrations (Art. 22).
Art. 6 Media Ownership Database – already established in Germany
Art. 6 EMFA requires Member States to establish national media ownership databases. These databases must include information on media service providers regarding their legal name and contact details, as well as their ownership structures (including beneficiaries). They should also include details on any public funding received for state advertising and the total annual amount of advertising revenues received from third-country public authorities or entities. Germany has already met this requirement to a large extent with its Mediendatenbank, which is operated by the KEK. It is expected that it only has to be amended to also include information on state-funded advertising. Similar databases are bound to be established in all Member States. In this regard, the Mediendatenbank could serve as a practical example for implementation in other jurisdictions.
Art. 24 obligations of providers of audience measurement systems
Art. 24 EMFA outlines obligations of providers of audience measurement systems. For instance, these systems must be transparent and impartial. We understand that the KEK will most likely be responsible for implementing the provision.
Art. 22 assessment of media market concentrations – Sektorenmodell
Under Art. 22 Member States shall lay down, in national law, substantive and procedural rules which allow for an assessment of media market concentrations that could have a significant impact on media pluralism and editorial independence. As discussed in one of our previous blog posts (see here), Art. 22 EMFA has the potential to bring about a paradigm shift in media M&A transaction given that under the current German legal regime, media market concentrations are primarily assessed only in relation to national television sector. However, Art. 22 EMFA significantly expands the assessment of media market concentrations to other players including all types of television or radio broadcasters, on-demand audiovisual media services, audio podcasts or press publications. Additionally, providers of an online platform providing access to media content and providers of video-sharing platforms or very large online platforms exercising certain editorial responsibility are in scope. On top, only one of the involved players to a transaction must fall under the definition. This obligation extends well beyond the current status quo of German media concentration law. Accordingly, German law requires adaptation in this area. We understand that the federal states are currently exploring a sector-based model (Sektorenmodell) for implementing Art. 22 EMFA (as opposed to the current so-called audience share model – Zuschaueranteilmodell). At a parliamentary committee meeting on 14 May 2025, the Head of the State Chancellery of Schleswig-Holstein explained that the targeted Sektorenmodell is based on the sector formation model used in competition law. Under the model, the KEK would be able to define media sectors and investigate any interference by a provider with the free formation of opinions within those sectors. The objective would be to determine whether the formation of free opinion is at risk. It is worth noticing that this process would be conducted in dialogue with the relevant provider. Furthermore, the Head of the State Chancellery elaborated that, should a threat be identified, the provider may be subject to certain measure, such as granting third parties and other providers access to their service, as well as measures affecting corporate and voting rights. However, it was emphasised that the Sektorenmodell is currently under discussion and not yet finalised.
Next Steps
The legislative process for the Digital Media State Treaty is still in its early stages. It remains to be seen whether the implementation will be finalised by the approaching deadline of 8 August 2025. We will closely monitor its development, so stay tuned for updates.
Authors: Theresa Ehlen (Partner), Katharina-Sophia Rieger (Associate) and Max Strobel (Research Assistant).
