Brussels, 08/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission announced that the Spanish state financing of early retirement and other lay-off measures of public broadcaster RTVE was in line with EC Treaty state aid rules. This concludes the re-organisation of Spanish state support for the public broadcasting system undertaken following a Commission investigation which ended on 20 April 2005 (see EUROPE 8933).
Jonathan Todd, the spokesman for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, told press that this decision in no way contradicted the Lisbon Strategy priority of improving the employment conditions of older people. “This is an exceptional case - there were far too many employees to allow the Spanish broadcasting body to operate in a cost-efficient way, and we have been persuaded that (this reduction) was the best way to ensure its viability.”
With the aim of ensuring this viability, the Spanish authorities decided to set up a new company, RTVE, which began operating on 1 January 2007, following a 44% reduction in staff numbers (4,150 employees). The collective lay-off plan established an early retirement scheme for workers who would be aged 52 before the end of 2008, and who had worked for RTVE for more than 6 years as of 31 December 2006. Eligible workers were to receive 92% of their net salary until they reached the legal retirement age of 65. The state would finance the pre-retirement benefits for these workers but would at the same time save their salary costs, which it would otherwise have had to pay through the annual financing it provides to RTVE. The overall estimated cost of the early retirement and other lay-off measures was €1.3 billion over a period of 15 years (i.e. from 2007 to 2022).
This programme and the withdrawal of other contentious measures (the unlimited guarantee in favour of RTVE, and its exemption from corporate income tax) ensured that Spanish state involvement in the broadcasting system would comply with Community law.
For further information on how state aid rules apply to public service broadcasting, visit http: //europa.eu/rapid, reference “MEMO/05/73”. (cd)