Sky Italia Srl v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni.
Date: 2013-07-18
12. In that regard, it must be borne in mind that, on the basis of Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (OJ 1989 L 298, p. 23), the amended version of which was consolidated by the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Court has already held that such a directive does not completely harmonise the rules relating to the areas to which it applies, but that it lays down minimum rules for broadcasts which emanate from the European Union and which are intended to be received within it (see Case C‑412/93 Leclerc-Siplec  [1995] ECR I‑179, paragraphs 29 and 44; Case C‑222/07 UTECA  [2009] ECR I‑1407, paragraph 19; and Joined Cases C‑244/10 and C‑245/10 Mesopotamia Broadcast and Roj TV  [2011] ECR I‑8777, paragraph 34).
15. In that regard, the Court has already held that the principle of equal treatment is a general principle of European Union law, enshrined in Articles 20 and 21 of the Charter, which requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently and that different situations must not be treated in the same way unless such treatment is objectively justified (see, inter alia, Case C‑550/07 P Akzo Nobel Chemicals and Akcros Chemicals v Commission and Others  [2010] ECR I‑8301, paragraphs 54 and 55 and the case-law cited).
16. In order to determine whether pay-TV and free-to-air broadcasters are in a comparable situation, the comparability of two distinct situations must be assessed with regard to all the elements which characterise them and to the principles and objectives of the field to which the act relates (see, to that effect, Case C‑176/09 Luxembourg  v Parliament and Council  [2011] ECR I‑3727, paragraph 32 and the case-law cited).
17. In that regard, the Court has already held that the protection of consumers, as television viewers, from excessive advertising is an essential aspect of the objective of the directives on the provision of audiovisual media services (Case C‑195/06 Österreichischer Rundfunk  [2007] ECR I‑8817, paragraph 27, and Case C‑281/09 Commission  v Spain  [2011] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 45).
18. As regards the principles and objectives of the rules on the television advertising limits laid down by the directives on the supply of audiovisual media services, the Court has held that such rules are intended to establish a balanced protection, on the one hand, of the financial interests of television broadcasters and advertisers, and, on the other hand, of the interests of rights holders, namely writers and producers, in addition to consumers as television viewers (see, to that effect, Commission  v Spain , paragraph 44 and the case-law cited).
24. As regards the freedom to provide services set out in Article 56 TFEU, which is the only fundamental freedom of which account needs to be taken in relation to the dispute before the referring court, it must be borne in mind that the national rule at issue in the main proceedings is capable of constituting a restriction of that freedom. However, the Court has already held that the protection of consumers against abuses of advertising constitutes an overriding reason relating to the general interest which may justify restrictions on the freedom to provide services (see, to that effect, Case C‑6/98 ARD  [1999] ECR I‑7599, paragraph 50). Such restrictions must still be applied so as to ensure achievement of the aim pursued and not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose (see, inter alia, Case C‑498/10 X  [2012] ECR I‑0000, paragraph 36).
30. In that regard, the Court of Justice points out that the need to provide an interpretation of European Union law which will be of use to the national court makes it necessary that the referring court should define the factual and legislative context of the questions it is asking or, at the very least, explain the factual circumstances on which those questions are based (see Joined Cases C‑320/90 to C‑322/90 Telemarsicabruzzo and Others  [1993] ECR I‑393, paragraph 6, and Case C‑380/05 Centro Europa 7  [2008] ECR I‑349, paragraph 57).
31. Those requirements are of particular importance in the area of competition, which is characterised by complex factual and legal situations (see Telemarsicabruzzo and Others , paragraph 7, and Centro Europa 7 , paragraph 58).