Stephan Merz is aiming to keep us up-to-date with ever-changing regulations.

Over the past nine months, the German direct marketing industry has been monitoring the arguments concerning changes to our privacy law, and lobbying over potential increased enforcement of sanctions which are already in place for any violations of the rules.

When I last reported in this column, I was as sure as most other German industry members that our Parliament would have passed the new privacy law by now. But, as I write this, it is still pending and we fear a last-minute death for the so-called ‘list privilege’ as we currently know it.

In mid-May it had looked as if the new law would not be passed during the current legislative period. But the past week has been typical of the rollercoaster ride we have experienced since last autumn. In mid-June, the media reported an unexpected compromise  by the coalition parties CDU and SPD. Parliamentary groups in the Bundestag could have debated this in the Committee for the Interior (CI) and then added it to the Parliamentary agenda – and, theoretically, could have passed the amended law within a week. But it was not debated by the Committee – the social democratic party prevented that vote; the members in favour of consumer protection did not want to support the proposed compromise.

The compromise had included an option over an opt-in on mailings which state the address source. How this could be fulfilled in an acceptable manner is still unclear. Would it need to be the name of the list source . . . or could it just include a code and phone number for information on the source; similar to the Austrian model?

As I write this, there is only a week left for the law to be passed before the elections! First, the SPD needs to agree on the compromise, then it could be discussed in the CI on July 1 and passed in the Bundestag on July 3 – the latest possible kiss of death for the ‘list privilege’, as we have known it for decades.

But neither the DM industry nor consumer protection groups will be fully satisfied with the compromise. The former will not have enough time to prepare for the generation of opt-ins – and it is not at all clear how a legally-acceptable opt-in would have to be generated. Meanwhile, consumer groups will not be happy with the exceptions the opt-in requirement would allow. However the change would result in the birth of new sources and give alternative media a boost. We have already noticed some developments:

• Generation of postal addresses with opt-in: These have been generated in the past – mostly through online competitions. Since their performance is limited to similar offers, they will be useless for the majority of traditional mailers.
• Parcel inserts: Without doubt, the new law will make these an exception. They will definitely be the best alternative to reach proven mail-order buyers and to address new targets. More and more online shops are offering this option, although they haven’t made their lists available for third parties. The same applies to mail-order pharmacies.
• Mailings with an introduction of third parties. As the recipients of these mailings would immediately identify the source – namely the sender of the introduction – this method will still be within the law.

The experience of past weeks has taught us one thing: Nothing is permanent except change! I will keep you posted on what happens.