EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATEGENERAL IV COMPETITION MEDIA

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EUROPEAN COMMISSIONDIRECTORATE-GENERAL IV -
COMPETITION - MEDIA Dr Herbert UNGERER

European Union and Media Round Table on Media
Pluralism Zagreb, 28 November 2003
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Dual Structure of Media in the European Union
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Television in the EU

• Eighties Initial structure of national
  public broadcasters based on
  licence fee system
• Nineties Private broadcasters based on
  advertisement revenues
• End nineties Pay TV, pay per view revenues
  as a third mainstream revenue
  line

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Media
Different sources
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Audiovisual Revenue by segment
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Diversification of platforms and products

• Free TV
• Pay TV / pay per view
• Interactive
• Broadband Internet

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Market delineations have become moving target
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Issues for this decade

• Digital platforms
• Access to content
• Media concentration

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The Legal Framework in the EU
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Objectives

• Pluralism
• Cultural diversity
• Choice

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PluralismBasic public goal in the media sector
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Cultural DiversityPreservation of national
identities
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ChoiceAccess to the new media that innovations
open up
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Essentials of the Legal framework in EU

• Basic freedoms freedom to provide services
• EC competition order
• MaastrichtAmsterdam Treaties the
  provisions relating to culture and the
  protocol on public broadcasting

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Essentials cont..

• The Charter of Fundamental Rights Freedom of
  expression and information (Article 11)
• European Convention of Human Rights (Article
  10) / Council of Europe

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Essentials cont.

• Integration of the Charter into the future
  European Constitution
• Title II / Article 11

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Policies

• Television Without Frontiers (TWF)
  Directive
• Media concentration
• EU merger regulation and antitrust controls
• (p.m. liberalisation of the EUs
  telecommunications market)

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Television without Frontiers Directive and
related Directives
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Television without Frontiers

• Harmonises the definition of broadcasting
• Provisions concerning advertisement,
  sponsoring, protection of minors
• European content provisions
• Access rights to events of general public
  interest

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Communication on Review foreseen for this year
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Media concentration controls
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Media concentration

• Basic Treaty provision ownership issues
  fall with Member States
• Green Paper on pluralism and media
  concentration of the mid-nineties

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Media concentration cont..

• Member States retain right to issue national
  media laws relating to limits on media
  ownership
• Plurality of the media is regarded as a
  legitimate interest of a Member State under EU
  law
• but

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European Parliament has requested effective
measures to ensure media pluralism
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Major EU controls fall with Merger Regulation and
control of public enterprises under Article 86
and State Aid provisions
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EU Competition law

• Merger Regulation
• Antitrust (Articles 81 82)
• Article 86 EC Treaty public service
  provisions
• (Commission Green Paper on services of
  general interest)

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State aid control under EC Competition law

• EU Competition law cont.

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At issue

• Content rights
• Programmes
• Channels
• Distribution platforms

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Commissioner Monti

• Exclusivity of a long duration and for a wide
  range of rights is unacceptable because it is
  likely to lead to market foreclosure

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Rules for Public Broadcasting
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Public broadcasting

• EC Article 86, and State Aid scrutiny
  (Article 87)
• Commission Communication on the application
  of EC State Aid rules to public broadcasting
  and recent rulings by the EU Court of Justice

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Member States have

• Authority to define public service goals in
  broadcastingbut
• Transparency requirement
• Fair competition when competing with the
  private sector

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Cont..

• Dual nature of market must not be tilted by
  public intervention
• Innovation and emergence of New Media
  (Internet and 3G) must not be strangled

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Essentials
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• True independence of regulation from
  operator(s) and government
• Proportionality of regulation
• Based on a dynamic assessment of actual
  audience and market power

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• A fair and transparent regulatory framework
• Strong and sufficiently resourced antitrust
  regulators
• Independent and transparent Media
  regulator(s)

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Effective Mechanisms for ensuring Media Pluralism
are a must for acceding the European Union