The planned federal delivery subsidy is of great importance for the press publishers, but it is not even clear in the federal government who should take care of it.
At least that was the result of an inquiry from the specialist service epd medien: The Federal Ministry of Economics reported that it was currently unclear who in the government would be responsible for any funding.
At the end of 2021, the ministry commissioned the study “Necessity and possibility of federal funding for the press industry”.
The process is not yet complete, results could not be called.
The responsibility in the government would result from the type of funding.
In the coalition agreement, the traffic light government had written that it wanted to examine funding opportunities in order to ensure a "wide supply of periodical press products".
The previous government failed to implement such a plan.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs planned a delivery subsidy of 220 million euros, but it was not possible to set up such a legally secured one.
The press publishers are demanding support in order to be able to maintain newspaper distribution in rural areas.
They see themselves in dire straits due to the exorbitant rise in paper prices and the minimum wage for newspaper deliverers.
In mid-September, the Bundesrat urged the federal government to keep the promise made in the coalition agreement.