Court signals Munich Oktoberfest tents may avoid EU tender

The Bavarian Supreme Regional Court has indicated that Munich may not have to put its large Oktoberfest tents out to an EU-wide tender, BR reported on Friday. The court is due to issue its decision on October 16.

The case concerns whether Munich can continue allocating tent spaces under its existing rules or must advertise them across the European Union. Gastronomer Alexander Egger brought the case after unsuccessful applications for a larger tent.

The court’s presiding judge said the Senate currently tended to view the tent contracts as not constituting service concessions. One reason, the court said, was that operators were not legally required to open their tents during the festival.

Whether individual operators generate more than 5.4 million euros in sales, the threshold for EU-wide tenders for service concessions, was therefore irrelevant to the case, the court said.

Egger’s challenge focuses on the Schottenhamel and Paulaner tents, but the case puts Munich’s overall allocation system under scrutiny. Seven large tents belong to major Munich breweries, from Augustiner to Spaten. Two others belong to shooting clubs, including the Armbrustschützenzelt. The breweries and clubs select their operators and put them forward to the city.

Five other large tents are allocated through direct applications to the city. It awards points for criteria including experience, environmental standards, tradition and appeal. The city council must give final approval. The system is described as having developed historically.

Egger considers the process opaque and says an EU-wide tender is required. His lawyers sharply criticised the court’s preliminary assessment, arguing that the Senate had relied on outdated case law and had taken an unrealistic view of whether tent operators had to open. They questioned whether the city could really be indifferent to whether the festival tents operated.

Egger had also sought to prevent the Schottenhamel and Paulaner tents from being erected until the court ruled. He failed in that attempt in June. Both tents will therefore operate at this year’s Oktoberfest, and Munich’s new mayor, Dominik Krause of the Greens, can tap the first barrel in the Schottenhamel tent on September 19, as his predecessors did.

Michael Schottenhamel said he was leaving the court with a good feeling. Egger’s lawyer Benno Ziegler also expressed confidence, saying he was optimistic.