On Thursday, 26 February, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case C-92/23 that Hungary had infringed EU law by preventing a commercial radio station, Klubrádió, from continuing to broadcast on a radio frequency in Budapest.
The European Commission had brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations before the CJEU in order to challenge the Hungarian Media Council’s refusal to renew Klubrádió’s right to use the 92.9 MHz frequency after its initial contract expired.
The Hungarian authorities had cited financial difficulties and minor infringements in the station’s reporting obligations to justify this refusal as well as the invalidation of its tender in a new call for tenders.
According to a press release, the CJEU has, in its judgment, deemed the arguments made by the European Commission – which takes the view that Hungary had “failed to comply with the EU regulatory framework for electronic communications; the principles of proportionality, non-discrimination, and good administration; and the freedom of expression and information” – to be admissible.
According to the judges, the allocation or renewal of rights to use frequencies must be based on objective, transparent, non-discriminatory, and proportionate criteria. Purely formal or minor infringements alone cannot justify a radio operator’s exclusion.
In so ruling, the CJEU has reaffirmed that “any national measure limiting or restricting broadcasters’ access to radio frequencies is liable to interfere with their right to freedom of the media”.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/kxx (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)