Concerts only for vaccinated people: is the “two-class society” illegal?

SIt has not always been easy to get tickets for your favorite artist in the past. Tickets to the events sold out quickly and the coveted tickets were only available later on the black market, often at horrible prices.

It is quite possible that the obstacles to going to the concert will be even greater in the future: the online ticket seller CTS Eventim put into play on Wednesday that access to the events would be linked to a corona vaccination.

“If there is enough vaccine and everyone can be vaccinated, then private organizers should also have the opportunity to make a vaccine as a requirement to access the events,” said Eventim boss Klaus-Peter Schulenberg of the “Wirtschaftswoche”.

Apparently the first preparations have already been made. The company has already configured its systems so they can read vaccination cards, it is said. On Wednesday afternoon, however, it appears that Schulenberg felt misunderstood.

The company made it clear: “It is wrong that CTS Eventim wants to link participation in concerts and events to a vaccination against the corona virus.” The portal referred to a statement in which Schulenberg emphasized that private organizers should have the opportunity to do so. – when everyone can get vaccinated. That would mean: only those who don’t want that would have to stay out.

The Eventim boss understands when people have concerns about a vaccine. “But when you see how vaccinations are being carried out around the world without relevant side effects, hopefully this skepticism will go away soon,” Schulenberg said in the report.

The industry is running out of time

However, it will take some time until enough vaccines are available. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) renewed her promise in an interview with ARD on Tuesday that she could offer all citizens a vaccination offer by the end of the summer. However, little progress is still being made and no more vaccine doses are expected until April.

But the industry is running out of time. Since November 2, even the smallest events like last spring have been banned, some artists and companies are fighting for their existence. The organizers are already considering how the events could be held again with the necessary protection against infection, and in the meantime they are openly thinking about the admission requirements.

“Until an acceptable vaccination quota is reached, proof of a vaccine, or at least a current negative test result, will also be part of the entry requirement for events,” says Jens Michow, Executive President of the Federal Association. Concert and Events Industry (BDKV).

For this, both the results of the PCR and antigen tests could be used. Organizer associations have already started talks with politicians about funding such tests, explains Michow.

Lawyers would give the green light to such admission requirements. “It is legally permitted for Eventim, as a private company, to only grant vaccinated people access to their important events,” attorney Christian Solmecke, partner at Wilde, Beuger, Solmecke (WBS), told WELT. The ticket seller could invoke his contractual freedom and private autonomy.

“Eventim can independently determine to whom and under what conditions it offers concert tickets,” says Solmecke. In German civil law there is also the General Equal Treatment Act, which prohibits discrimination in civil law transactions and thus partially restricts the freedom of contract.

According to the lawyer, discrimination is only prohibited on specific grounds. For example, by ethnicity or gender.

Resistance, but also encouragement from politics

From the point of view of the organizers, it is necessary to act in terms of data protection. “Therefore, it should be ensured that, for example, the data of the vaccination card presented at the time of purchase, in the best of cases scanned using a barcode, can be transmitted to the organizer”, says the head of the Michow association. It is easy to obtain consent for the purchase of digital tickets. In the case of purchases in advance booking offices, a greater effort is inevitably required here.

Access only with vaccination card? Opposition politicians are skeptical: “Of course, I understand that many organizers now hope to be able to reopen as soon as possible, even if it is only for those who have been vaccinated,” said Tabea Rößner, spokesperson for consumer policy for the Green parliamentary group. , when asked.

But ultimately, this idea is one of the hasty relief proposals that could ultimately mean that the pandemic would only last longer. “After all, a concert exclusively for vaccinated people could act as an infection factor,” Rößner said.

Especially since the protective effect is not produced in one hundred percent of vaccinated people. Also, do not forget that there are people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Even celebrities are extremely critical of these access requirements if they are implemented in a timely manner. Schlager Dieter Thomas Kuhn, who fills large stages with his flower shows, finds the approach in bad taste: “It would be tremendous discrimination. I think a two-class society is outrageous, ”Kuhn told WELT. “You can talk about that cautiously two years from now, but dismissing something at this point, I think it is presumptuous and dishonest.”

CDU politician Jan-Marco Luczak, on the other hand, comments: At the latest, when everyone can get vaccinated, there is no reason why a private company should not make proof of vaccination a prerequisite. .

“We must always bear in mind that it is not about special rights or privileges for vaccinated people, but about exercising fundamental rights,” said the consumer policy spokesman when asked. From Luczak’s point of view, it would be a “constitutionally and politically wrong way” to demand consideration from the vast majority of those who are willing to vaccinate towards the small minority of those who oppose vaccination and, therefore, maintain the restrictions .

By the way, Eventim is familiar with corona vaccines. In Schleswig-Holstein, the ticket seller assigns vaccination appointments on behalf of the State Ministry of Health. For the company, this is a new business area at a time when the events industry is idle due to crown restrictions.