The IPA supports the European and International Booksellers Federation, and our member, the German Booksellers and Publishers Association. It is with great surprise and disappointment that, in a country so committed to freedom of expression as Germany, we see three bookstores excluded from consideration on the basis of a procedure designed to protect against terrorism but with no detailed justification which would allow them to contest such allegations. We join calls to the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media to review this decision.

Statements from IPA member, the German Booksellers and Publishers Association here.

Statement from the European and International Booksellers Federation here and below:

The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) strongly supports the German Booksellers and Publisher Association (Börsenverein des Deutchen Buchhandels) in condemning the exclusion of three bookshops from the German Bookshop Award. This decision, made without transparency or due process, undermines the award’s integrity and threatens the fundamental values of our industry. Our core concerns regard the following:

  • Lack of fair process: The bookshops were excluded without being given a chance to respond to allegations, violating basic principles of fairness.
  • Lack of transparency: The opaque ‘Haber’ procedure lacks clarity and contestability, eroding trust in the entire award system.
  • Risk to freedom of expression: Bookshops are essential for cultural diversity and democratic discourse. Exclusions based on political assumptions — without evidence — threaten these fundamental values.

Says Fabian Paagman, EIBF President: “Booksellers serve the public by making a wide spectrum of ideas, perspectives and debates accessible. Through their freedom to curate and offer diverse catalogues, they contribute to a pluralistic cultural landscape and to a well-informed, intellectually curious society. Such openness to ideas and debate is one of the essential foundations of a healthy democratic culture. The presence of particular titles in a bookshop must therefore be understood as part of this broader mission of providing access to knowledge, debate and literature.” 

Update 11 March:

The Federation of European Publishers joins the International Publishers Association, its member, the German Booksellers and Publishers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) and the European and International Booksellers Federation in condemning the exclusion of three bookshops from the German Bookshop Award. This decision highlights serious deficiencies in terms of the procedure which led to the exclusion and transparency, and directly undermines the values of freedom of expression and freedom to publish on which the publishing sector is based.

FEP President, Sonia Draga, said: ‘European publishers are concerned that these bookshops were excluded without being provided any justification. Bookshops are places where ideas are exchanged and new opinions are shaped. We demand clarity on the process that led to the exclusion of the three bookshops and, in the absence of a clear process and transparency, their immediate reintegration in the German Bookshop Award’.