Germany

[DE] Complaint against Kirch/Murdoch Merger

IRIS 2000-7:1/25

Alexander Scheuer

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

In mid-June, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Union of German public broadcastersARD) filed a complaint with the European Court of Justice concerning the European Commission's decision to authorise the partnership between the Kirch Group and Murdoch (BSkyB) in the German pay-TV market.

In the document submitted to the Court of First Instance as part of an individual nullity suit in accordance with Article 230.4 of the EC Treaty, the ARD questioned in particular whether the conditions imposed by the Commission were actually likely to prevent a dominant position from being created or strengthened.

Mention was made of KirchPayTV's dominant positions in the German pay-TV market and in the interactive television services market, which was especially worrying (see IRIS 2000-4: 4). The members of the ARD believe that these markets are particularly threatened unless the decoders can be used by other service providers and the channels they operate.