The Development of the European Union’s Policy on State Aid to Public Service Broadcasting – From Early Cases to Formulated Policy
The Development of the European Union’s Policy on State Aid to Public Service Broadcasting – From Early Cases to Formulated Policy

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses and contextualizes Community policy on State Aid to public service broadcasting. The basis for Community action was laid as early as 1974 when the European Court of Justice declared broadcasting a service. The pressure on the Commission on how to handle financing issues of public service broadcasting intensified as private operators’ complaints claiming infringements of the Treaty started to flow in. The Commission’s passive attitude to the handling of these cases eventually brought actions to court and led to the declaration of the Commission’s failure to fulfil its obligations arising from the Treaty. As policy was being formulated, a number of documents were published by the Commission, and an overview of these is provided. A discussion of the first Commission decisions in respect of State Aid cases will then follow, and those judgements which eventually pressured the Commission into formulating its policy documents on services of general economic interest and the Communication on the Application of State Aid Rules to Public Service Broadcasting are described. Details of these rules will then be elaborated before the paper discusses the Altmark judgement - one which undoubtedly had a strong impact on the examination process of the Commission in State Aid cases. Finally, before the concluding remarks, the first decision based on both the 2001 Broadcasting Communication and the Altmark judgement will be examimed.

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