ECJ Judgment – 1 Freedom to provide services – Television broadcasting – Directive 89/552 – Television broadcaster coming under the jurisdiction of a Member State – Determining criterion – Establishment – Effects of the origin of broadcast programmes on a Member State’s jurisdiction – None
(Council Directive 89/552, Art. 2(1))
2 Freedom to provide services – Television broadcasting – Directive 89/552 – Monitoring compliance with the directive – Monitoring to be undertaken by the Member State in which broadcasts originate – Prevention by a Member State of the retransmission of broadcasts not complying with Articles 4 and 5 of the directive by a broadcaster over which another Member State has jurisdiction – Not permissible – Exceptions
(Council Directive 89/552, Art. 2(2))
3 Member States – Obligations – Unilateral action – Prohibition
4 Article 2(1) of Directive 89/552 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities is to be interpreted as meaning that a television broadcaster comes under the jurisdiction of the Member State in which it is established.
Although the Directive does not expressly define `broadcasters under [a Member State’s] jurisdiction’, it follows from the wording of Article 2(1) that the concept of a Member State’s jurisdiction must be understood as necessarily covering jurisdiction ratione personae over television broadcasters, which can be based only on their connection to that Member State’s legal system, which in substance overlaps with the concept of establishment used in the first paragraph of Article 59 of the Treaty, the wording of which presupposes that the supplier and the recipient of a service are `established’ in two different Member States.
The origin of programmes broadcast by a television broadcaster or their conformity with Articles 4 and 5 of the Directive are irrelevant in determining the Member State having jurisdiction over a television broadcaster for the purposes of Article 2(1) of the Directive.
5 Article 2(2) of Directive 89/552 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities is to be interpreted as meaning that a Member State may not oppose the retransmission on its territory of broadcasts of a television broadcaster over which another Member State has jurisdiction when those broadcasts do not conform with the requirements of Articles 4 and 5 of the Directive.
Under the system established by the Directive for allocating obligations between Member States from which broadcasts emanate and Member States which receive them, only the Member State from which television broadcasts emanate must monitor the application of the law of the originating Member State applying to such broadcasts and ensure compliance with the Directive and the receiving Member State may not exercise its own control in that regard.
Only in the circumstances provided for in the second sentence of Article 2(2) of the Directive may the receiving Member State exceptionally suspend retransmission of television broadcasts, on the conditions laid down by that provision.
6 A Member State may not unilaterally adopt, on its own authority, corrective or protective measures designed to obviate any breach by another Member State of rules of Community law.
Citations:
C-14/96, [1997] EUECJ C-14/96
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
European
Media
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.161762