Governing European Communications by Michalis Maria;

Author:Michalis, Maria;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1350161
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2013-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Had the Constitutional Treaty, signed by EU political leaders in 2004, been nationally ratified, these provisions would have been strengthened.

Guidelines on State Aid Rules

The second response to the rising number of competition cases against public service broadcasters concerned the clarification of the application of state aid rules to public service broadcasting.

In September 1998, responding to complaints about delays and failure to act, the Commission’s DG Competition tried unsuccessfully to adopt guidelines on state aid to public service broadcasters. The aim was to move away from the case-by-case investigation of complaints and create a framework that would enhance legal certainty. In the discussion paper, the DG Competition sought to delimit public service broadcasting to specific program types, stating that public service broadcasters would not be allowed to use public funding to acquire major sports rights, when not defined as events of major importance to society, and entertainment programs, that is categories that commercial broadcasters can cater to.132

The discussion paper provoked a powerful reaction from national governments, public service broadcasters and their supporters. They interpreted it as an attempt by the Commission to define the public service remit which would have been in direct contradiction to the recently adopted Amsterdam protocol. In the end, it was withdrawn. The subsequent Communication on state aid to public service broadcasters abandoned the most controversial proposal of the discussion paper that would have confined public service broadcasting to certain content.133 All other provisions, such as financial transparency and accounting separation, were restated.134

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