Because of the rapidly rising inflation, the parliamentary secretary of the CSU in the Bundestag, Stefan Müller, has called for a temporary exemption from the broadcasting fee.
“Many Germans have problems financing their everyday expenses.
The federal and state governments should therefore suspend the broadcasting fee for three months in order to relieve people," Müller told the "t-online" portal.
“Low-income people would benefit disproportionately from a suspension of the broadcasting fee, since all households have to pay the same amount,” said Müller.
In addition, the federal and state governments should use the period to talk about a basic staggering of the contribution.
"It is socially unfair that a high-earning couple has to pay as much as a single parent," said Müller.
A streamlining of public service broadcasting is “indispensable anyway”.
The Finance Minister of Schleswig-Holstein and leading candidate of the Greens in the state elections, Monika Heinold, had previously proposed a suspension of the contribution.
She had suggested suspending the broadcasting fee for half a year in order to relieve the burden on citizens.
The director of Deutschlandradio, Stefan Raue, had rejected this in an interview with the FAZ.
A voluntary waiver by the broadcasters of the contribution is not possible under broadcasting law, said Raue.
Politicians must first decide what will then be dispensed with in the program.
The German Association of Journalists (DJV) sharply rejected the proposal by the CSU regional group leader Müller.
"The radio contribution is not a stopgap for the increased inflation rate," said DJV national chairman Frank Überall, adding polemically: "You can just as well ask for three months of free shopping in the supermarket."