Brussels, 18/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted a communication explaining how State aid rules are applied to funding of public service broadcasters. The communication specifies that the Member States are, in principle, free to define the extent of the public service and the way it is financed and organised. It is, however, up to the Commission to assess the proportionality of State funding and to control possible abusive practices. With this in mind, it calls on Member States, whenever this is lacking, to establish a precise definition of the public service remit, to formally entrust it to one or more operators through an official act, and to have in place an appropriate authority monitoring its fulfilment. Public funding should, moreover, be limited to what is necessary for the exercise of this task ("proportionality"). The Commission will intervene when it notes competition distortion consecutive to aid that cannot be justified by the need to perform public service as defined by the Member State.
The Commission is currently examining several complaints from private operators concerning State financing of public broadcasters. Procedures are thus in progress concerning Italy and France and a decision should soon be reached regarding Spain and Portugal. In the aim of transparency, the Commission has decided to publish a communication clarifying the rules existing in this connection. Michael Tscherny, one of the spokespersons for Commissioner Monti, commented that, when the Commission has several similar cases referred to it, it clarifies its position before taking individual measures. The communication takes into account the most recent texts (for example, the Amsterdam protocol, the new Commission communication on general interest services and the amended directive on transparency), and thus gives guidelines to public authorities and to operators. If it admits the specific role of public service broadcasting (as recognised by the Amsterdam Treaty) for the promotion of the democratic, social and cultural needs of each society, the Commission ensures that there is no abuse or excessive remuneration. Defined as a general interest service, public service broadcasting is financed by public resources, financing which can therefore be likened to State aid. Although the definition and the choice of public service financing comes under the Member States, the Commission ensures, on the other hand, that the Community rules are respected and that there is no competition distortion. "The Member States can provide funding, as long as the aid does not exceed the authorised threshold, which would distort competition", said the spokesman. Finally, the communication recalls that the public broadcasting bodies must respect the obligations arising from the directive on transparency, which imposes the separation of accounts between public service and non-public service activities.