The British government wants to abolish license fees for the public broadcaster BBC by 2027. In France, the fee model has been a thing of the past since last year – here the state takes over the financing. Slovakia was the last country to bid farewell to broadcasting fees. These have been financed through taxes since July 1, 2023.

Germany, on the other hand, is still sticking to broadcasting fees. From these, the public channels generated revenue of 2.1 billion euros last year – a record. In addition to Germany, however, another 20 of the 56 countries in the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) finance their broadcasting services through fees – and in very different ways.

Great Britain and France say goodbye to broadcasting fees – Germany and Poland stick to it

Countries charging fees include Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece, Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, among others.

According to “extra“ the post office the money. In Switzerland, the private company Serafe AG ​​will be responsible for this until 2025. Then the order will be reassigned. Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, people pay the charges with their monthly electricity bill. In fact, this model is widespread and common in eleven of the EBU’s 21 fee-paying countries.

The broadcasting contribution that was launched in 2013 is controversial in Germany. Critics complain, among other things, of the compulsory financing and the constantly increasing fees. Others, on the other hand, complain about the alleged closeness to the state of the public channels ARD, ZDF, Deutschlandradio and state media.