The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice . The Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice if it does not receive a satisfactory response from the Belgian authorities within two months of receipt of the reasoned opinion. A number of Belgian communes have introduced in recent years an annual tax on the possession of each dish for receiving satellite television. In the Commission's view, the taxes act as a disincentive to receiving radio and television broadcasts via satellite and so constitute an obstacle to satellite broadcasts from other Member States. Moreover, the Commission considers that the tax is unjustified.
Some municipal authorities claim that the tax is to preserve the aesthetic appearance of buildings.
Other municipal authorities admit explicitly that the tax aims to make the reception of satellite broadcasts at least as expensive as reception of broadcasts via cable networks. Indeed, exemptions from the satellite dish tax are sometimes available for persons who cannot connect themselves to the cable network, and the tax is sometimes reduced by half for dish owners who also subscribe to a cable network. The Commission also considers that the obligation imposed on each person that wants to install a satellite dish to seek systematically prior authorisation from the municipal authorities, sometimes with administrative expenses involved, to be excessively restrictive. According to the case law of the Court of Justice, the free movement of services is a fundamental principle of Community law that must be applied directly by Member States in their national legislation. In principle, a Member State may be required to refund a tax collected in violation of Community law.