Brussels, 21/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The German public television channel ARD is convinced that a rapid solution is at hand in the dispute between it and the European Commission on how it is financed (see EUROPE 8901 an d8921). This was the message sent out in Brussels on Tuesday by the Bavarian minister Eberhard Sinner, the president of the ARD Conference, Bernd Lenze and the president of ARD, Thomas Gruber at the “ARD Meets Europe” conference. Mr Lenze recognised the importance of maintaining media plurality, to guarantee cultural diversity and freedom of expression, which is today the responsibility of the Länder. Mr Gruber noted that according to the Commission, our system is not sufficiently clear and transparent in terms of separation of accounts (Europe rules require that bodies which receive State subsidies to carry out their public service mission have separate accounts for their private activities: Ed). On the contrary, our system is very well controlled, he said, stressing his willingness to discuss the matter with the Commission. On the concerns of the Commission regarding the funding of new services (sending images via mobile telephones or the Internet), the German bosses said that public channels must be able to keep pace with the technological evolution of broadcasting media if they are to guarantee the citizens access to content, irrespective of the means of broadcasting used. Commissioner Viviane Reding, who oversees the information society portfolio, said that she was also fully confident that a rapid solution to the dispute could be found: “We are on the right track to find a reasonable solution”, she said. I have discussed the matter with my colleague Neelie Kroes and we both reaffirmed the need to guarantee fair competition between public and private broadcasters, she added. Ms Reding pointed out that this does not mean that Brussels is trying to regulate a sector which is supposed to remain under national competency. There is no question of a confrontation between the Member States and the Commission, which is calling only for greater transparency, she underlined. Ms Reding also reiterated the need to revise the “Television Without Borders” directive (the Commission will make a proposal by the end of the year), with society moving towards “digital convergence”.