Fury at delayed verdict in TV competition case

Date: 11/01/1996

By Fiona McHugh

A MAJOR row is brewing over the European Commission's handling of a controversial competition case which could dramatically change the way the EU's television industry operates.

If upheld by the competition authorities, a complaint lodged by the privately-owned French television station TF1 against its publicly-owned rivals, France 2 and 3, could force governments to cut back on the amount of money they grant to public stations.

But the chances of a speedy verdict were dealt a serious blow by the recent failure of an independent group of experts to put a price-tag on public service obligations.

Their study, which took over two years to prepare, concluded that it was impossible to assess the cost of special obligations imposed on public stations.

Competition officials say they can only decide whether Paris is granting unfair state aid to France 2 and France 3 after they establish how much it costs to fulfil government programming requirements.

Private TV stations have reacted angrily, accusing the Commission of deliberately stalling on the case to avoid a political storm.