Despite protests, the German Federal Constitutional Court has not accepted a constitutional complaint for decision. The motor vehicle industry had hoped that the protest would relieve the broadcasting fee. This means that the following still applies: Existing vehicles used as demonstration vehicles are subject to the broadcasting license fee.
As the motor vehicle trade in Baden-Württemberg announced in an association letter on Thursday, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) did not accept the constitutional complaint for a decision.
Unfortunately, the Karlsruhe judges provided no justification for their decision:
"The relevant ruling contains no justification, which is expressly permitted by the Federal Constitutional Court Act," explained Managing Director Julia Cabanis (Motor Vehicle Trade Association of Baden-Württemberg) with reference to Section 93d Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 of the Federal Constitutional Court Act.
Background: As early as 2017, the administrative court in Sigmaringen decided that car dealerships also had to pay broadcasting fees for demonstration vehicles. In 2014, a car dealership in Reutlingen - with the support of the Baden-Württemberg motor vehicle trade and the ZDK umbrella organization - initiated a model lawsuit against what you considered to be unjustified broadcasting fees for demonstration vehicles. The reason given was that demonstrators in their performance role should be regarded as commercial goods and should therefore be exempt from the obligation to pay contributions.
The verdict was hoped to have a signal effect on the entire automotive industry. In vain.
