EU: Number of TV licences a national matter but EC must protect plurality

The number of television licences in the country was a matter for Greek authorities to decide, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Gunther Oettinger said on Monday, according to a report published by the Greek Deutsche Welle website. The Commissioner was replying to questions put to him during a press briefing on the Commission’s proposals on digitisation issues in the media.

“The question whether licences should be four, five, six or 10, for public or private television stations, is an affair of national states per se and the free decision-making process of parliaments,” Oettinger said when asked if Greece’s decision to restrict the number of private television channels to four was a threat to media freedom.

At the same time, he added, the Commission would intervene if there were grounds to suspect that the licencing process was interfering with media plurality and press freedoms.

Oettinger said he had received many messages concerning the situation in the Greek television landscape and about the Greek government’s possible interference in the freedom of the press and media. If the Commission finds proof that this is the case, the Commission might move against Greece on the basis of EU treaties, he noted.

Oettinger said he was working with two Greek MEPs on this issue, whom he did not name.

On June 16, the Commissioner had sent a letter of formal notice to Greece regarding the withdrawal of digital terrestrial television frequencies from the digital signal provider DIGEA and raised questions about the independence of the national telecoms regulator. Under EU rules, Greece had two months in which to reply.

The Commission on Friday noted that Greece had failed to give a satisfactory answer and warned that these were not the only issues under scrutiny in the Greek television landscape.