Commission v Belgium C-211/91: ECJ 16 Dec 1992

ECJ (Judgment) 1. By prohibiting cable television companies from broadcasting on their networks programmes from radio or television broadcasting stations in other Member States, where the programmes are not transmitted in the language or one of the languages of the Member State in which the station is established, a Member State is in breach of its obligations under Article 59 of the Treaty.
Such a restriction, which is discriminatory in that it is not applicable to services without distinction as regards their origin, cannot be brought within any of the grounds for exemption from the freedom to provide services permitted by Community law, that is to say those laid down in Article 56 of the Treaty.
2. While it is true that a Member State cannot be denied the right to take measures to prevent a provider of services whose activity is entirely or principally directed towards its territory from exercising the freedom guaranteed by Article 59 of the Treaty for the purpose of avoiding the professional rules of conduct which would be applicable to him if he were established within that State, it does not follow that it is permissible for a Member State to prohibit altogether the provision of certain services by operators established in other Member States.

Citations:

[1992] ECR I-6757, [1992] EUECJ C-211/91

Links:

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European, Media

Updated: 01 June 2022; Ref: scu.160762