The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action wants to develop its regulatory framework to facilitate more investment and innovation on the basis of fair competition while at the same time guaranteeing data sovereignty and the protection of fundamental rights of individuals and companies.

Open dialogue for a digital regulatory policy: From Green Paper to White Paper

By introducing the “Green Paper on Digital Platforms” (in German) as part of its Digital Strategy 2025, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action initiated a broad and intensive discussion process to discuss these aspects and possible rules and framework conditions for digital platforms. Representatives from companies, business associations, trade unions, non-profit organisations, scientists and citizens took part in the consultation process: over 260 online contributions and 70 detailed comments were submitted. The consultation results were incorporated into the “White Paper on Digital Platforms”. It presents concrete proposals for a digital regulatory policy and is deliberately formulated for the European debate. Learn more (in German).

Competition law in the digital age – the 9th amendment of the Act against Restraints of Competition.

By adopting the 9th amendment of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) (in German), the Federal Government improved the regulatory framework governing abuse of market power and mergers. This amendment takes account of the particularities of digital markets, thereby providing effective protection against abuse of market power and guaranteeing effective control of mergers. Learn more (in German).

Net neutrality means the unhindered, non-discriminatory transmission of data packages - regardless of their origin, recipients and contents.

Differentiated data transmission is important to guarantee the provision of quality services, for instance in the event of a temporary overload of parts of the network. Real-time audiovisual content particularly requires quality of service to ensure transmission in an adequate picture and sound quality. These services include, for instance, information and entertainment programmes of TV channels as well as school or university lectures on demand in smart education networks. Some of the telemedical services provided by smart healthcare networks require guaranteed transmission rates. The revision of the Telecommunications Act (in German) also guaranteed compliance with European rules on an open internet at national level.

Further information can be found here (in German).

Expert dialogue on net neutrality

An expert dialogue of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) contributes to a scientifically based objective discussion of key economic and social matters regarding net neutrality. The studies and workshops aim to analyse current developments and to identify the need for action in the fields of regulation and legislation.

In German towns and cities, mobile internet via Wi-Fi is to be available for everyone. In the future, airports, cafés, town halls and libraries are to be able to provide free Wi-Fi – in the interest of fast internet access any place, any time.

This requires first of all a clear legal situation. In the past, the operators of public hot spots could be ordered to cease their activities and pay a fine for violations of the law by the users of their Wi-Fi (“secondary liability”). Smaller companies in particular, such as cafés and hotels, would therefore often refrain from providing Wi-Fi access - and thus from attracting potential customers - despite the competitive disadvantage this entails.

Legal certainty for Wi-Fi operators

Against this backdrop, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action revised the Telemedia Act to create legal certainty for potential Wi-Fi operators: the much-criticised “secondary Wi-Fi liability" for Internet access providers has no longer applied since the entry into force of the amendment on 13 October 2017. From now on, no further costs can be claimed, in particular no warning costs that are connected to the secondary Wi-Fi liability. Also, no Wi-Fi operator can be required by an authority to register users, to encrypt or close down its Wi-Fi.

The amendment establishes the legal framework to introduce open Wi-Fi spots throughout Germany.

On the other hand, however, the revision also takes due account of the right to intellectual property and its European legal requirements. Where copyrights are infringed, right holders can enforce blocks on use in individual cases in order to prevent the repeat of a specific violation of the law.

However, this is subject to the condition that the right holder has no other means of preventing the infringement of his right and that the freezing is reasonable and proportionate. This ensures that there is no “overblocking”, i.e. that blocks imposed do not go too far. The costs for the enforcement of such usage restrictions incurred before and after court must not be imposed on the Wi-Fi operator.

Click here (in German) to find out more.

The free choice of routers strengthens consumers and enables more competition. To this end, the Economic Affairs Ministry introduced legislation on router freedom, and this was adopted by the Bundestag and Bundesrat in November 2015 (Draft law) (in German) (PDF, 110 KB). The requirement of several network operators to use only their own routers not only prevented consumers from freely choosing products, but also restricted competition as the producers of routers and modems are highly dependent on a small number of network operators. The Act entered into force on 1 August 2016. Find out more (in German).

The public sector also collects, compiles and reproduces a broad spectrum of data in fields such as the economy, geography, society, transport, tourism and the weather. It is in fact Europe's largest source of information. Public-sector data that are subject to the freedom of information - including maps, statistical data, court rulings, and population and patent registers - offer a great potential for young, emerging companies.

Data that may be used by everyone (open data) can provide the basis for innovative products and services that require the use, aggregation or combination of such data - e.g. for navigation systems in vehicles, weather forecasts, mobile applications, and finance and insurance services. Find out more (in German).

The Draft Second Act Amending the Act on the Price Maintenance for Books (in German) (PDF, 242 KB) is to protect books as cultural objects in the digital age and to guarantee the diversity of book titles and bookshops. It clarifies that e-books, as substitutes for printed books, are subject to the statutory price maintenance for books.

The Act has also created greater legal certainty: the statutory price maintenance now applies to the sale of all books to consumers in Germany regardless of where the traders are located.

Price maintenance for books guarantees diversity and efficient market

Books are to be available everywhere at the same price, and bookshops with a broad range of books are to guarantee supply with books throughout the country. Furthermore, the price maintenance for books ensures that there are many small and medium-sized publishing houses which enable a large number of authors to publish their works.

Thanks to the price maintenance, e-books will become more attractive in economic terms for publishers and booksellers. The Act thus also creates incentives for further innovative developments on the book market, e.g. in the fields of electronic book formats and digital marketing models. The Act on the Price Maintenance for Books thus guarantees an efficient market for books in Germany and promotes their role as cultural objects.