Universal Music has planned a move from its German headquarters in Hamburg to the Berlin in July 2002. This move will make Berlin the city with the most music related companies in Germany. Sony Music moved their headquarters last year from Frankfurt to Berlin.
The move has created a huge raucous amongst local politicians in Hamburg as they suspect that the move was financially supported with 30 million Deutsch Mark by Berlin.
According to a EU agreement, the city of Berlin is allowed to tempt companies to its city, while Hamburg is not. This is because eastern Germany is still considered economically underdeveloped compared to the western part of Germany.
Normally the money spent by local councils should be used to create job opportunities, however according to press reports, this might not be the situation. In Hamburg the company employs 500 people but when finally in Berlin the company has apparently decided to hire only 480 staff members.
The representatives of the Senate in Hamburg are very distressed about these circumstances and are contemplating taking the Berlin Senate to trial.
