“Great major event”
Government wants to make more partying possible at the European Championships
March 12, 2024, 8:56 p.m
Public viewing has been part of major football tournaments in Germany since the “Summer Fairy Tale” in 2006. The federal government wants to give cities and municipalities more flexibility so that the Germans can stare at screens together until the night at the home European Championships in June and July.
According to a media report, the federal government is planning to relax the regulations on nighttime rest for the European Football Championship this summer. Fan festivals and public viewing should be possible during the home tournament from June 14th to July 14th until late at night, as “Spiegel” reported, citing a draft regulation from the Federal Environment Ministry. However, the decision about approvals should still rest with the municipalities.
“With the public viewing regulation, we enable cities and municipalities to allow public viewing to take place until later in the evening,” Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) was quoted as saying. We are looking forward to “a great major event in Germany”. The cabinet is expected to initiate the regulation next week.
There are official UEFA fan zones in the ten venues where the games are shown on large screens. The associated noise can pose a problem with regard to sleep, “particularly in the evening and at night.” That’s why “special regulations” are necessary, according to “Spiegel” in the paper. However, the federal government is not planning any general exceptions for fan festivals and public viewing during the European Championship. Each individual case should be examined.
The latest games in the tournament kick off at 9 p.m. A regulation came into force for the Winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022 that allowed municipalities to, as an exception, relax night-time noise protection. This meant that transmissions were also possible after 10 p.m.