European Union’s policy on the application of state aid rules to public service broadcasting

Alicja Jaskiernia

English version of the article

The 2001 Communication from the Commission on the application of state aid rules to public broadcasting has first set out the framework governing state funding of public broadcasting. In the meantime, technological changes have fundamentally altered the broadcasting and audiovisual markets. There has been a multiplication of distribution platforms and technologies, such as digital television, IPTV, mobile TV and video on demand. The 2009 Communication from the Commission consolidates the Commission’s case practice in the field of state aid in a future-oriented manner, based on the comments received in public consultations. It clarifies the principles followed by the Commission in the application of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union to public funding of audiovisual services in the broadcasting sector, taking into account recent market and legal developments.

KEYWORDS

European Union, Communication of the Commission, public service broadcasting, state aid, competition policy