After Leipzig: The Far-Reaching Impact of the Hessischer Rundfunk Case

In late April the Bundesverwaltungs-gericht (BVerwG), Germany’s federal administrative court, held another hearing and pronounced its judgment in the legal challenge against the Hessischer Rundfunk, a German public broadcaster, for its refusal to accept payments for an obligatory fee in euro cash. The detailed text of the BVerwG ruling, with the court’s deliberation, was made public in August.

The BVerwG was asked to rule on whether the German public broadcaster’s refusal of cash to settle obligatory payment was a violation of the status of euro banknotes and coins as legal tender. The absence of clear definition at the Eurozone level on the scope and effectiveness of the term ‘legal tender’ of cash led the German court when asked to rule in the Joined Cases C-422/18 and C-423/10, Dietrich and Häring v Hessischer Rundfunk, to refer for preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).