In a landmark ruling, the European Commission has cleared Portuguese public television organisation Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP)

Date: 03/10/1996

of accusations that it received 35 million ecu in state aid between 1992 and 1995. The Commission found that compensation paid to the company by the state was fully justified by specific public service obligations imposed on it at the cost of lost audiences. These included guarantees to cover the whole territory of Portugal, including the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores, and to maintain audio-visual archives and an international service.