WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2135/96 by Alexander FALCONER , Alfred LOMAS , Peter TRUSCOTT , David HALLAM , Michael ELLIOTT , Michael HINDLEY , Christine ODDY , Hugh KERR , Anthony WILSON , Kenneth COATES , David BOWE , Thomas MEGAHY , David MARTIN , Stephen HUGHES , Pauline GREEN , Lyndon HARRISON , Alex SMITH , Edward NEWMAN , Phillip WHITEHEAD , Roger BARTON , Arthur NEWENS , Susan WADDINGTON , Christine CRAWLEY , Imelda READ , David THOMAS , Eryl McNALLY , Anita POLLACK , Mark WATTS , Ian WHITE , David MORRIS , Bill MILLER , Kenneth COLLINS , John TOMLINSON , Simon MURPHY , Richard HOWITT , Tony CUNNINGHAM Shaun SPIERS , Gary TITLEY , Robert EVANS , Clive NEEDLE , Mair MORGAN , Barry SEAL , Alan DONNELLY , Michael McGOWAN , Angela BILLINGHAM , Arlene McCARTHY , Glenys KINNOCK , Mark HENDRICK , Michael TAPPIN , Norman WEST , Peter CRAMPTON , Veronica HARDSTAFF , Wayne DAVID , Hugh McMAHON , Terence WYNN , Brian SIMPSON , Richard BALFE , Peter SKINNER , Glyn FORD , Gordon ADAM , Carole TONGUE to the Commission. Pluralism in the media
Date: 1996-09-16
Institutions: ADAM, BALFE, BARTON, BILLINGHAM, BOWE, COATES, COLLINS KENNETH, CRAMPTON, CRAWLEY, CUNNINGHAM, DAVID, DONNELLY ALAN, ELLIOTT, EVANS, European Parliament, FALCONER, FORD, GREEN, HALLAM, HARDSTAFF, HARRISON, HENDRICK, HINDLEY, HOWITT, HUGHES STEPHEN, KERR, KINNOCK, LOMAS, MARTIN DAVID, MCCARTHY, MCGOWAN, MCMAHON, MCNALLY, MEGAHY, MILLER, MORGAN, MORRIS, NEEDLE, NEWENS, NEWMAN, ODDY, POLLACK, READ, SEAL, SIMPSON BRIAN, SKINNER, SMITH ALEX, SPIERS, TAPPIN, THOMAS, TITLEY, TOMLINSON, TONGUE, TRUSCOTT, WADDINGTON, WATTS, WEST, WHITE, WHITEHEAD, WILSON, WYNN
Subjects: United Kingdom, application of EU law, competition, distributive trades, law relating to information, limited circulation, newspaper, pluralism in the media













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91996E2135

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2135/96 by Alexander FALCONER , Alfred LOMAS , Peter TRUSCOTT , David HALLAM , Michael ELLIOTT , Michael HINDLEY , Christine ODDY , Hugh KERR , Anthony WILSON , Kenneth COATES , David BOWE , Thomas MEGAHY , David MARTIN , Stephen HUGHES , Pauline GREEN , Lyndon HARRISON , Alex SMITH , Edward NEWMAN , Phillip WHITEHEAD , Roger BARTON , Arthur NEWENS , Susan WADDINGTON , Christine CRAWLEY , Imelda READ , David THOMAS , Eryl McNALLY , Anita POLLACK , Mark WATTS , Ian WHITE , David MORRIS , Bill MILLER , Kenneth COLLINS , John TOMLINSON , Simon MURPHY , Richard HOWITT , Tony CUNNINGHAM Shaun SPIERS , Gary TITLEY , Robert EVANS , Clive NEEDLE , Mair MORGAN , Barry SEAL , Alan DONNELLY , Michael McGOWAN , Angela BILLINGHAM , Arlene McCARTHY , Glenys KINNOCK , Mark HENDRICK , Michael TAPPIN , Norman WEST , Peter CRAMPTON , Veronica HARDSTAFF , Wayne DAVID , Hugh McMAHON , Terence WYNN , Brian SIMPSON , Richard BALFE , Peter SKINNER , Glyn FORD , Gordon ADAM , Carole TONGUE to the Commission. Pluralism in the media  


Official Journal C 060 , 26/02/1997 P. 0125 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2135/96 by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission (3 August 1996)Subject: Pluralism in the mediaSmall circulation newspapers and magazines in the UK including the Methodist Recorder, Tribune and the Morning Star fear that their distribution is to be severely restricted as a result of proposals by the proprietors of newspapers and the distributors WH Smith in England and Menzies in Scotland. These proposals could seriously affect the ability of European citizens to read newspapers produced in their Member State whilst residing in the UK.What proposals does the Commission have to ensure that pluralism in the media and circulation of Union newspapers is not harmed by restrictions by UK newspaper proprietors and distributors?What steps is the Commission taking to ensure that the newspaper proprietors' and distributors' actions do not breach Community competition policy, in particular Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty, and place a possible restriction on the free movement of people?Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (13 September 1996)The Commission is currently working on a possible initiative ((Pluralism and media concentration in the internal market: As assessment of the need for Community action, COM(92) 480 final. Follow-up the consultation process to the Green Paper on 'Pluralism and media concentration in the internal market: An assessment of the need for Community action' COM(94) 353 final. )) concerning the harmonisation of specific national media ownership rules aiming to safeguard pluralism. However, these rules do not regulate the behaviour of economic operators in the newspaper distribution market.Furthermore, the Commission has no intention at present to investigate under the Community competition rules (Articles 85 and 86 of the EC Treaty) the practice of distributors of refusing to distribute for retail purposes publications with limited circulations. This is for a number of reasons.Firstly, there is no indication that trade between Member States is being affected. The question raises the issue of whether European citizens, while residing in the United Kingdom, are able to read newspapers produced in their Member State, in view of the distribution policy of british proprietors and distributors. The publications referred to, the Methodist Recorder, Tribune and the Morning Star, are all british published titles, so the practices referred to appear to be limited to a single Member State, the United Kingdom. No complaints have been received by the Commission from the publishers of these publications, nor from any other small circulation publications within the Community, that the distribution policy of british distributors and proprietors may affect trade between Member States.Allegations of anti-competitive behaviour in individual Member States fall for consideration by national competition authorities. In the United Kingdom following the publishing of a report in December 1993 by the Monopolies and mergers commission (MMC) on newspaper distribution, remedies were introduced to address a number of competition problems identified by the MMC. The Office of fair trading has been monitoring the changes that have since taken place in the distribution of publications in general.Secondly, technological developments in recent years, such as desk-top publishing, have resulted in a multiplication of the number of titles available to consumers. Consequently, commercial decisions have to be made as to which titles are economically viable for retail distribution and should be stocked in retail outlets which are subject to limitations on display space.Although some low-circulation publications may no longer be sold through the usual outlets, it is nevertheless normally possible to obtain titles on a subscription basis direct from publishers or their distributors.For these reasons and in the absence of information to the contrary, consideration of the use of the Community competition rules is not warranted.