EU Orders Spain To Recover Aid Given To TV Broadcasters To Shift To Digital

THIS Thursday, June 10, EU competition regulators ordered Spain to recover state aid illegally given to TV broadcasters to change from analogue to digital broadcasting.

This Thursday, June 10, EU competition regulators ordered Spain to recover state aid illegally given to TV broadcasters to facilitate the switch from analogue to digital television constitutes incompatible State aid. The aid was granted for the digital switch-over as well as for the operation and maintenance of the digital television network. This is a new ruling following Europe’s top court annulling its initial decision in2013.

The European Commission said another investigation sparked by the Court of Justice’s judgement, based in Luxembourg, in 2017 revealed that Spain had granted state aid to broadcasters in 2005 to 2008.

“The measures are selective because they benefit only DTT (digital terrestrial television) operators, although DTT and satellite technologies are in a comparable factual and legal situation (satellite technology could have been used for the digital switch-over in remote areas),” the EU antitrust enforcer said in a statement.

The enforcer said that Spain will determine the amount that will be recovered from each broadcaster in line with the methodology of the Commission, according to Reuters.

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