Dutch Pubcaster Ordered to Pay Back Excess Funding

BRUSSELS, June 23:
Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) has been ordered by the European Commission
to pay back 76.3 million euros, plus interest, to the Dutch government,
following a review of its public-service financing.

The Commission has been
investigating payments made by the government of the Netherlands to NOS from
1994 to 2005. In a statement, the Commission ruled that “the payments went
beyond the financial needs of broadcasters for public-service purposes and
resulted in NOS building up financial reserves.”

Competition Commissioner
Neelie Kroes added, “Today’s decision confirms that public funding for
broadcasting must not exceed the costs of providing the public-service tasks
defined by an individual Member State, without challenging Member States’
rights to define those public-service tasks or to compensate broadcasters for
performing them. Excess compensation unnecessarily distorts competition and
allows the public-service broadcasters to operate in commercial markets on more
favorable grounds than competitors that do not receive state aid.”

In 2002 and 2003, several
commercial broadcasters raised concerns about the financing of Dutch
public-service broadcasters. A formal investigation began in February 2004.