THE EU, THE MEMBER STATES AND THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Public service broadcasting (PSB) has come under considerable pressure by the EU Commission. This is due to the fact that the Commission treats broadcasting as a service as any other and therefore applies the competition regulation of the EC Treaty to broadcasting stations, independent of their commercial interests or public service mission. Against this background, the financing of public broadcasting is regarded as being state aids that are only allowed under special circumstances. In recent years, several commercial broadcasters from different member states filed complaints and claimed distortion of competition through state aids for public service broadcasting. At first, the Commission remained reluctant but has meanwhile adopting an active role, finally pushing aside the member states although, according to the Amsterdam Protocol, they have the competence to define the remit of PSB and to decide about its funding. This battle is about to change the broadcasting systems of the European countries where PSB has been a defining feature for more than 50.