Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2026) 1412
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notification: 2026/0260/DE
Notification of a draft text from a Member State
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Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délai - Kein Fristbeginn - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nezahajuje prodlení - Fristerne indledes ikke - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - No abre el plazo - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Ne otvara razdoblje kašnjenja - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Non fa decorrere la mora - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Atlikšanas laikposms nesākas - Ma jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dewmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nezačína oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Inleder ingen frist - Ní osclaíonn sé na moilleanna
MSG: 20261412.EN
1. MSG 001 IND 2026 0260 DE EN 22-05-2026 DE NOTIF
2. Germany
3A. Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, Referat EB3
3B. Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM), Referat KM56 (E-Mail: km56@bkm.bund.de)
4. 2026/0260/DE - SERV30 - Media
5. Act on the promotion of European audiovisual works through an investment obligation for media service providers (Media Investment Obligation Act – MedienInvestVG)
6. On-demand media services or video-on-demand services
7.
8. Under the MedienInvestVG, media service providers, i.e. on‑demand video services and television broadcasters with media libraries that benefit from the German viewing market, are required to invest 8 per cent of their net turnover (or, in the case of public service broadcasters, of their programme expenditure) in the production and distribution of European audiovisual works. The aim is to ensure a stable and sustainable level of investment in the German production sector. A defined share of these investments must be allocated through subquotas to the production of new works (60 %), to original German-language works (80 %) and to productions by independent film producers (70 %). In addition, a rights reversion clause is intended to strengthen the position of independent film producers. To ensure sufficient flexibility for the market at the same time, an opt-out clause allows deviations from the investment-related provisions of the Act through a voluntary agreement between the media service provider and one or more representative associations of producers, provided that the media service provider commits to increased investments of at least 12 per cent and that fair arrangements on the granting of usage rights are established. The German Federal Film Board (FFA) will verify compliance with both statutory and voluntary obligations on the basis of confidential transmission of the relevant turnover figures and investment documentation by the media service providers. In cases of non‑compliance, the FFA may impose a compensatory levy. The effectiveness of the Act will be evaluated after three years by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), who will report the findings to the Bundestag.
9. MedienInvestVG is intended to ensure a stable ans sustainable level of investment and market plurality, while promoting the structure of the European and German film industries as well as innovation‑driven competition. The Act therefore helps to maintain the competitiveness of the production sector in Germany and Europe and to strengthen the European film and television industry, as well as the creative professionals involved in it.
9a. In order to achieve the objective of strengthening the German and European production industry and ensuring the diversity of content on offer, the MedienInvestVG guarantees that the required investments are not channelled solely into licences for existing productions, but also specifically into the creation of new content.
The obligation to allocate a share of the investments to works produced in original German language strengthens the German‑language production industry, promotes cultural diversity in the audiovisual sector and supports the German language to the extent permissible under EU law. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) also allows Member States to adopt measures aimed at safeguarding cultural diversity in the audiovisual market. Member States may introduce stricter provisions, such as language‑based requirements, than those laid down in the AVMSD, provided that they are compatible with Union law. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed this in its examination of a Spanish language quota (see CJEU, judgment of 5 March 2009 – C‑222/07 – UTECA).
Eligible works must be produced predominantly by film producers who are independent of the media service provider commissioning the work (= relative independence). This sub‑quota can therefore only be met if the media service provider does not exercise corporate control over the producer. It strengthens market plurality, preserves a diverse production industry, and ultimately benefits users.
In addition, the Act is intended to create incentives for film producers to innovate and strengthen their economic independence. This objective is achieved by enabling film producers to benefit more sustainably than before from the development and production of audiovisual works. There is a structural imbalance currently between media services and film producers that hampers the sector’s ability to innovate. The Act addresses this by introducing a gradual rights reversion in favour of producers, linked to the investment obligation. This mechanism enables independent production companies to build up their own catalogue of rights over time, to market these rights autonomously, and to reinvest the resulting revenues in the development of new, innovative content and projects. In this way, independent film producers will participate more sustainably than before in the economic success of the works they develop and produce, thereby strengthening their economic resilience and counteracting the ongoing trend towards highly vertically integrated corporate structures in the production market.
Strengthening independent productions is not solely about achieving economic objectives. It also constitutes an essential contribution to cultural diversity, as recognised by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). The investment obligation and the rights reversion mechanism are not separate provisions; rather, they are closely interlinked instruments which can only achieve their full regulatory effect when applied in conjunction with one another.
9b. The development of digital media technologies and increasing transmission bandwidths have led to new on-demand services and, as a result of growing media convergence, to a fundamental transformation in media consumption. Non-linear on-demand services – in particular subscription-based and advertising-based video-on-demand services (S-VoD and A-VoD) – are becoming increasingly popular, while traditional linear television usage is declining. The market is dominated by international providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Disney+, whose catalogues consist predominantly of works commissioned or co‑produced by them, but which do not meet the criteria of a ‘European work’. The European Union (EU) already responded to these market developments in 2017: In order to ensure adequate investment in European works, Article 13(2) of the AVMSD allows Member States to require both media service providers established within their territory and providers of media services targeting their territory but established in another Member State (so‑called cross‑border services) to make direct investments in European works.
Several EU Member States, including France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, already make use of this European empowerment.
With the MedienInvestVG, Germany is also taking this step. Given the investment obligations introduced in many other European Member States on the basis of the AVMSD, the absence of such an obligation in Germany would risk creating a competitive disadvantage. Media service providers could increasingly shift investments previously made in Germany to other European countries in order to meet the obligations applicable there. According to the Report on Investments by Broadcasters and Streamers in European Original Content of 11 September 2025 published by the European Audiovisual Observatory (p. 18), investments made by global streaming services in Germany fall significantly short of those made in other Member States and, given the size of the German production market, also fall short of expectations.
9c. At the same time, the MedienInvestVG only intervenes in the entrepreneurial freedom of media service providers to the most limited extent necessary: Providers fulfil their obligations through direct investments, while retaining the freedom to choose the respective film producer and the genre, form and content of the audiovisual work to be produced or licensed, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
The investment obligation applies to media service providers with very different business models, programming orientations and corporate structures. In order to ensure the greatest possible degree of flexibility, § 9 allows them to enter into agreements with one or more representative associations of film producers, thereby permitting deviations from the investment-related requirements of the Act. This so-called ‘opt-out’ clause serves to safeguard the proportionality of the statutory intervention and ensures that the obligation is implemented in a manner consistent with fundamental rights.
Use of this flexibility requires the media service provider to commit to increased investments of at least twelve per cent, and the agreement must contain a provision on rights of use that takes due account of the interests of both parties. This ensures that the statutory objectives are also achieved or exceeded to at least a comparable extent within the framework of an industry agreement. The opt-out clause is available to all media service providers equally.
It is this specific combination of, on the one hand, voluntary investment commitments as part of individually negotiated agreements and statutory provisions, and, on the other, a statutory minimum investment quota for media service providers that allows for the greatest possible economic flexibility while also guaranteeing minimum investment levels in Germany.
10. Reference to the basic texts: No basic text available
11. No
12.
13. No
14. No
15. No
16.
TBT aspects: No
SPS aspects: No
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European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
