Opinion split over media ownership

Date: 05/09/1996

By Tim Jones

DRAWING up proposals to harmonise the EU's disparate laws on media concentration looks likely to be a slow process following a policy debate within the European Commission yesterday (4 September).

Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti's draft plans to set common television and radio ownership rules for member states received a guarded welcome from his colleagues, but the college remains divided on what kind of legislation is needed.

In July, Monti set out the principles behind his proposals to the Commission and allayed fears that he was trying to erode national sovereignty or undermine the principle of subsidiarity.

The plan produced by his officials had taken the novel approach of seeking to limit firms or individuals to channels accounting for a maximum of 30&percent; of a country's radio or television audience. If a media magnate such as former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi exceeded this limit, some of his licences would not be renewed until his threshold came down to the required limit.

During yesterday's 'orientation debate', Monti stressed again that his aim was not to fight for media pluralism across the EU - as the European Parliament desired - but instead to provide common rules so that companies could make cross-border acquisitions with certainty.

The college split into three camps. Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan argued that nothing needed to be done, while a group led by Audio-visual Commissioner Marcelino Oreja felt a directive was not the best approach. The biggest group, behind Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann, was happy with a directive but wanted more reflection on potential pitfalls.

Many of these were set out by the European Publishers' Council (EPC) this week, when it sent comments to the Commission complaining that the rules, as they stood, would discriminate against traditional media.

The EPC warned that non-media companies would be able to migrate into traditional media markets using strong financial bases built up in other markets. Firms which had long operated in the sector would be prevented from building on their established base. Similarly, the draft proposal - as it stood - risked encroaching on national competences.

Bangemann, as well as Consumer Affairs Commissioner Emma Bonino and Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, called on Monti to look into ways of ensuring that any directive concentrated more on cross-border acquisitions.

All this means that progress in drafting a proposal will be slow and cautious, a fact that could well frustrate the Parliament.