Publication in accordance with Article 3(a)(2) of Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities, as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
Date: 2002-01-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: administrative cooperation, approximation of laws, audiovisual communications policy, broadcasting, television

C 16/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19.1.2002

Publication in accordance with Article 3(a)(2) of Council Directive 89/552/EEC (1) on the coor-
dination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member
States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities, as amended by Directive
97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2)

(2002/C 16/06)

The measures taken by the Republic of Austria pursuant to
Article 3(a)(1) of the Directive and notified to the Commission
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3(a)(2)
are set out in the following extracts from the Bundesgesetzblatt
(Federal Law Gazette (cid:151) I No 85/2001 and II No 305/2001):

(cid:145)85. Federal Act on the exercise of exclusive television
broadcasting rights (Exclusive Television Rights Act
(Fernseh-Exclusivrechtegesetz (cid:151) FERG))

The Nationalrat has decreed the following:

Article I

Scope

§ 1. (1)
This Act shall, with the exception of § 5, apply only
to television broadcasters covered by the Austrian Broadcasting
Act
((cid:214)sterreichischer Rundfunkgesetz (cid:151) ORF-Gesetz), pub-
lished in the Federal Law Gazette (BGBl.) No 379/1984, or
the Private Television Act
I No
84/2001.

(Privatfernsehgesetz), BGBl.

§ 3 shall not apply to television broadcasting rights
(2)
acquired prior to the entry into force of this Act, unless the
underlying agreements were extended after this Act took effect.

Events of substantial social interest

§ 2. An (cid:147)event of substantial social
for the
purposes of this Act mean only those events referred to in
an Ordinance issued under § 4 hereof.

interest(cid:148) shall

Obligations of television broadcasters

a

television broadcaster has

acquired
§ 3. (1) Where
exclusive broadcasting rights for an event referred to in an
Ordinance issued under § 4 hereof, it shall allow the event to
be seen on a television channel, freely accessible in Austria, by
at least 70 % of licence-payers and viewers exempted from the
licence fee, whereby the arrangements set out in the Ordinance
(whole or partial live or deferred coverage) shall be complied
with. For the purposes of this subparagraph, coverage shall be
deemed (cid:147)deferred(cid:148) where no more than 24 hours elapse
between the beginning of the event and the beginning of the
broadcast.

For

the purposes of

(2)
(cid:147)free-access television
channels(cid:148) shall mean channels which viewers are able to
receive without any additional or regular payments for the

this Act,

(1) OJ L 298, 17.10.1989, p. 23.
(2) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997, p. 60.

use of technical equipment for decoding. (cid:147)Additional payments(cid:148)
within the meaning of this subparagraph shall not include the
(Rundfunkge-
licence
b(cid:252)hrengesetz (cid:151) RGG)), the programme charge (§ 20 RFG), a
cable network connection fee and the standing charge payable
to a cable operator.

the Licence Fees Act

(§ 2 of

fee

that

could be

(3)
The obligation referred to in subparagraph (1) shall be
deemed to have been met if evidence is provided that the
television broadcaster did all
reasonably
expected under normal market conditions in an attempt to
enable the event as referred to in subparagraph (1)
to be
viewed on free-access television channels. A television broad-
in order to reach an amicable agreement about
caster may,
what constitutes such conditions, refer
to the
Federal Communication Senate (Bundeskommunikationssenat).
The latter shall involve all parties in efforts to reach a settle-
ment and shall draw up a written record of the negotiations
and their outcome.

the matter

the

involved,

decide whether

(4) Where no agreement is reached, the Federal Communi-
cation Senate shall, at the request of one of the television
broadcasters
broadcaster
adequately fulfilled its obligations under
concerned has
subparagraphs (1) and (3). In the event that the broadcaster
has not adequately fulfilled these obligations,
the Federal
Communication Senate shall take the place of the broadcaster
in determining what is meant by (cid:147)normal market conditions(cid:148) as
referred to in subparagraph (3).
the Federal
Communication Senate shall lay down an appropriate market
price for the granting of broadcasting rights.

In particular,

(5)
A television broadcaster which has not adequately
fulfilled its obligations under subparagraph (1) may be sued
for damages in a civil action. The claim to damages shall
also include compensation for loss of earnings.

(6)
Action for damages shall only be permissible once a
decision has been given as referred to in subparagraph (4).
Without prejudice to subparagraph (7),
the court and the
parties to the proceedings referred to in subparagraph (4)
shall be bound by a non-appealable ruling.

the decision is unlawful,

(7) Where, in proceedings referred to in subparagraph (6),
the court considers that
it shall
discontinue the proceedings and file a complaint with the
(Verwaltungsgerichtshof (cid:151)
Higher Administrative Court
VwGH) under Article 131 subparagraph (2) of the Federal Con-
stitution (B-VG) requesting a declaratory ruling confirming the
unlawfulness of the decision. When a ruling has been issued by
the VwGH, the court shall continue its proceedings and rule on
the dispute in keeping with the legal view of the VwGH.

19.1.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 16/9

Ordinance on events of substantial social interest

Penalties and procedures

§ 4. (1)
The Federal Government shall determine, by means
of an Ordinance, what events referred to in § 2 are of
substantial social
in Austria. The Ordinance shall
include only events which meet at least two of the following
criteria:

interest

§ 7. (1)

Any person who infringes obligations under:

1. § 3 subparagraph (1); or

1. the

event already commands widespread attention in

Austria, particularly as a result of reports in the media;

[. . .]

2. the event is an expression of Austria’s cultural, artistic or

social identity;

shall be deemed to have committed an administrative offence
and be subject to a fine of EUR 36 000 to EUR 58 000 from
the Federal Communication Senate.

3. the event is (cid:151) particularly because of the involvement of
top-level Austrian sportsmen/women (cid:151) a sporting event of
special national
commands widespread
attention among viewers in Austria owing to its inter-
national importance;

significance or

(2)
In the procedure provided for in subparagraph (1), the
Federal Communication Senate shall conduct a public oral
hearing.

4. the event has previously been broadcast on free-access

television.

(2)
The Ordinance shall stipulate whether an event shown
on free-access television is to have live or deferred coverage,
and whether the whole event or only parts of it are to be
broadcast. An event shall be covered live and in full unless
there are objective reasons (e.g. different time zones, various
events/parts of the same event being organised simultaneously)
to provide such
why it
coverage.

is necessary and appropriate not

rights,

Before the Ordinance is issued or amended, a cross-
(3)
section of
the
television broadcasters, holders of
business sector, consumers, employees and persons from the
fields of culture and sport shall be consulted. The draft
Ordinance shall be published in the official gazette supplement
(Amtsblatt) to the Wiener Zeitung, and provision shall be made
for any person to comment on it within a period of eight
weeks. The draft shall
then be submitted to the European
Commission. The Ordinance may only be issued if, within a
period of three months following submission to the European
Commission, the latter has not raised any objections to its
being issued.

[. . .]

Federal Communication Senate

§ 6. Responsibility for the supervision of the provisions of this
Act on points of law shall lie with the Federal Communication
Senate in so far as such provisions relate to television broad-
casters (§ 11 of
I No
32/2001).

the KommAustria Act

(KOG), BGBl.

The Federal Communication Senate shall apply the 1991
(3)
General Administrative Procedures Act
(Allgemeine Verwal-
tungsverfahrensgesetz 1991) (BGBl. No 51) and, in cases pro-
vided for
the 1991 Administrative
Penalties Act (Verwaltungsstrafgesetz 1991) (BGBl. No 52).

in subparagraph (1),

(4)
In the event of repeated and serious infringements of
this Act by a television broadcaster (§ 2 subparagraph (1) of
the Private Television Act, BGBl. I No 84/2001), the Federal
initiate the procedure for with-
Communication Senate shall
drawing licences or prohibiting cable broadcasts as provided
for in § 63 of the Private Television Act.

[. . .]

Enforcement

§ 9. (1)
Enforcement of this Act shall be entrusted to the
Federal Government with respect to § 4 subparagraphs (1), (2)
and (3), final sentence, to the Minister for Justice with respect
to § 3 subparagraphs (5)-(7), and to the Federal Chancellor
with respect to all other provisions.

(2)
The requirements of the first and second sentences of
§ 4 subparagraph (3) can be disregarded when an Ordinance is
issued for the first time after this Federal Act comes into force,
if, as part of the preparation of the notification procedure
pursuant to Article 3(a)(1) and (2) of Directive 89/552/EEC
the parties concerned
as amended by Directive 97/36/EC,
have
the
content of
Ordinance to be issued has been made known in an appro-
priate manner as part of this consultation.

already been consulted and the

C 16/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19.1.2002

Note on transposition

§ 10. The provisions of §§ 1-4, §§ 6-9 and § 11 of this Act
transpose Article 3(a)(1) of Directive 89/552/EEC on the coor-
dination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or
administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit
of television broadcasting activities (OJ L 298, 17.10.1989, p.
23), as amended by Directive 97/36/EC (OJ L 202, 30.7.1997,
p. 60).

[. . .]

Entry into force

3. European Championship football matches (for men) if the
Austrian national team is involved, as well as the opening
match, the semi-finals and the final of the football European
Championship (for men);

4. The final of the Austrian Football Cup;

5. FIS World Alpine skiing championships;

6. World Nordic skiing championships;

7. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Year Concert;

§ 11. This Act shall enter into force on 1 August 2001.

8. The Vienna Opera Ball.

Klestil

Sch(cid:252)ssel

Television broadcasters who have obtained exclusive
§ 2 (1)
broadcasting rights for the events mentioned in § 1 must
ensure that
these events can be viewed live and in their
entirety on free-access television.

305. Ordinance on events of substantial social interest

The following Order is made pursuant to § 4 subparagraph (1)
of the Federal Act on the exercise of exclusive television broad-
casting rights (Exclusive Television Rights Act (Fernseh-Exclu-
sivrechtegesetz (cid:151) FERG)), BGBl. I No 85/2001:

§ 1. Events of substantial social interest are:

1. The Summer or Winter Olympic Games;

2. FIFA World Cup football matches (for men) if the Austrian
national team is involved, as well as the opening match, the
semi-finals and the final of the football World Cup (for
men);

A recorded or partial version of

(2)
subparagraphs (1), (5), (6) and (8) may be broadcast if:

the events in § 1

1. parts of one of the events under § 1 or more than one of
the events mentioned in § 1 take place at the same time; or

2. the event has, in the past, not been broadcast in its entirety

because of its length.

§ 3. This Ordinance shall enter into force on 1 October 2001.

Sch(cid:252)ssel (cid:151) Riess-Passer (cid:151) Ferrero-Waldner (cid:151) Gehrer (cid:151)
Grasser (cid:151) Strasser (cid:151) B(cid:246)hmdorfer (cid:151) Molterer (cid:151) Haupt (cid:151)
Forstinger (cid:151) Bartenstein.(cid:146)

Notice of the expiry of certain anti-dumping measures

(2002/C 16/07)

Further to the publication of a notice of impending expiry (1), following which no request for a review was
received, the Commission gives notice that the anti-dumping measures mentioned below will shortly
expire.

This notice is published in accordance with Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 384/96 of 22
December 1995 (2) on protection against dumped imports from countries not members of the European
Community.

Product

Country(ies) of origin
or exportation

Measures

Reference

Date of expiry

Ring-binder mechanisms

Malaysia

Duty

25.1.2002

Council Regulation
(EC) No 119/97
(OJ L 22, 24.1.1997),
as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2100/2000
(OJ L 250, 5.10.2000)

(1) OJ C 122, 25.4.2001, p. 2.
(2) OJ L 56, 6.3.1996, p. 1, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2238/2000 (OJ L 257, 11.10.2000, p. 2).