WRITTEN QUESTION E-0845/02 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Ban on conclusion of public contracts with media companies.
Date: 2002-03-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, company structure, company with share capital, general legal principle, government bill, private media, public contract, restriction on competition

C 205 E/226

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

It should be noted that other Community programmes and measures (such as the Structural Funds, the
Funds devoted to the protection of the environment, etc.)
include projects that are also designed to
conserve and safeguard cultural heritage of European significance. The Commission intends to draw up a
communication on the implementation of Article 151(4) of the EC Treaty (1). To this end, it has decided to
launch a questionnaire,
including
initiatives intended to conserve and safeguard cultural heritage of European significance, of the structural
policy funds that they manage directly.

intended for the Member States, on the use, for cultural measures,

(1) Article 151(4) of the EC Treaty states that ‘the Community shall take cultural aspects into account in its action
under other provisions of this Treaty, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures’.

(2002/C 205 E/247)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0845/02

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 March 2002)

Subject: Ban on conclusion of public contracts with media companies

The Greek Government has submitted a proposal for a new draft law concerning restrictions on the
conclusion of public contracts with persons having interests in media companies. The proposal prohibits
the conclusion of such contracts with natural or legal persons who are ‘main shareholders’. The proposal
defines main shareholder as anyone owning a shareholding amounting to up to 5 % of the media
company’s total share capital.

Given the difficulty of identifying main shareholders at both Community and international level, will the
Commission say:

1. whether there is a breach of the principle of equality as a general principle of law, in view of the fact
that it will not be possible to scrutinise companies registered in another Member State or offshore
companies to the same extent as national companies,

2. whether the Member States are required to cooperate with the relevant national authorities in
identifying main shareholders (provision of information, conducting inquiries, etc), particularly if there
is no provision for such scrutiny in the national legislation concerned,

3. whether any delays in carrying out checks in respect of Community companies constitute a breach of
the principle of equality and discrimination against those companies compared with domestic firms,
and

4. whether it is feasible and legally valid to exclude Community companies from concluding public
contracts concerning broadcasting licences, given the impossibility of carrying out effective checks in
those cases?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(28 May 2002)

The Commission lacks sufficient information about the problem mentioned by the Honourable Member,
and given that this problem only relates to a proposal for a new law, it is not in a position to comment on
the questions raised on the basis of the information provided.