Brussels, 02/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - "The Commission should refrain from prescribing detailed rules at European level for the definition, organisation and functioning of public service broadcasting", states the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in its contribution to the Commission's consultation about state aid in this sector. In its contribution, which it published on Thursday 29 January, the EBU expresses its firmly-held opinion that the Commission "cannot and must not impose upon each member state detailed criteria and uniform procedures" to assess public broadcasting services. It adds that "the Commission cannot take as its basis the EC Treaty to intervene when a service of general economic interest has an impact on the market". Some observers, on the other hand, feel that state aid (including that used to fund public broadcasting) should be limited to the strictly necessary and bring about no more than a minimal distortion of competition. It must be noted that an approach of this kind will require an assessment of the impact on the market. The Commission intends to revise its communication on broadcasting, the current version of which dates from 2001 (EUROPE 9775), in 2009. This revision is needed in light of changes in the services offered by public broadcasters, particularly via new media. The consultation was closed on 15 January. The other contributions will be available on the website of DG Competition once the non-confidential versions have been finalised. (C.D./trans.fl)