Brussels, 10/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission considers that subsidies granted to commercial broadcasters for the use of the Hertzian digital television network (DVB-T) in the German Land of Berlin-Brandenburg are illegal, because they may distort competition. It has asked for this aid, which was never notified to the Commission and half of which has already been paid out, to be reimbursed. These subsidies, which went to companies such as RTL and ProSiebenSat1, had the objective of helping commercial broadcasters to bring down their transmission costs via the DVB-T network, which was launched in November 2002. In exchange, the broadcasters committed to use this network, which is managed under licence by the company T-Systems, for a minimum of five years. Further to complaints, the Commission opened an investigation in July 2004, at the end of which it ruled that the aid granted by the German Land was not based on any specific transition cost and that the decision had been made to grant the aid even though there had already been agreement on the transition. Furthermore, the broadcasters had already been granted a free digital licences allowing them greater broadcasting capacity per channel at less cost. These subsidies also indirectly benefited the DVB-T network over and above rival televisual platforms such as cable or satellite, without taking account of the principle of technological neutrality. Stating that it supports the transition towards digital broadcasting, the Commission points out that nonetheless, the aid it authorises must respect several conditions, according to four guidelines: -financing the deployment of a transmission network in regions where televisual coverage would otherwise be insufficient; -financial compensation granted to public service broadcasters for the cost entailed by broadcasting via all transmission platforms to reach the whole of the population, as long as this is provided for by the public service mandate; -subsidies to consumers, as long as these are technologically neutral, for the purchase of digital decoders; -financial compensation to broadcasters obliged to interrupt analogue transmission before their licences expire, as long as this compensation takes account of the digital transmission capacity allocated.