WRITTEN QUESTION E-0541/02 by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission. Dominant position in the Italian broadcast media.
Date: 2002-02-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, competition law, dominant position, mass media, national implementing measure, press, television

C 28 E/34

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2003

(2003/C 28 E/038)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0541/02

by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission

(27 February 2002)

Subject: Dominant position in the Italian broadcast media

Through his companies Silvio Berlusconi owns three out of the six Italian national television channels.
Their audience share has climbed to about half. As prime minister he also has power over the three
channels operated by the country’s public service broadcasting corporation (RAI). According to press
reports he intends to bring their operations into line with the output of his own channels. He will thus be
in a position to influence an estimated 90 % of his country’s national television broadcasting.

In addition, according to various information Berlusconi owns 38 % of Italy’s magazines and 30 % of its
publishing business and also has interests in the film, video, and Internet industries.

What does the Commission propose to do about the manifestly dominant position emerging in the Italian
broadcast media? Does the current situation conform to Union competition regulations?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(24 April 2002)

A dominant position by an undertaking may be relevant in terms of Community competition law under
Article 82 of the EC Treaty and/or under Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (1) hereafter the Merger
Regulation.

Article 82 of the Treaty prohibits the abuse of a dominant position by an undertaking, not the existence of
a dominant position as such. Such abuse may, for example, consist in directly or indirectly imposing unfair
purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions; limiting production, markets or technical
development to the prejudice of consumers; applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with
other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; or making the conclusion of
contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or
according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

Article 2(3) of the Merger Regulation empowers the Commission to declare as incompatible with the
common market a concentration which creates or strengthens a dominant position as a result of which
effective competition would be significantly impeded in the common market or in a substantial part of it.

In the context of the question raised by the Honourable Member, it should be recalled that Article 21(3) of
the Merger Regulation expressly allows for measures by the Member States in order to protect plurality of
the media and that other rules do not contain any specific provisions on media ownership restrictions.

At this stage of information, none of the conditions set out would seem to apply to the situation raised by
the Honourable Member.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between
undertakings, (OJ L 395, 30.12.1989), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1310/97 of 30 June 1997
(OJ L 40, 13.2.1998).

(2003/C 28 E/039)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0573/02

by Carlo Fatuzzo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 March 2002)

Subject: The plight of dogs in Bucharest

Romania has applied for membership of the European Community, which is based on law and the civic
sense of the population.