AUDIOVISUAL : COMMISSION CLOSES ITS PROCEDURE AGAINST GREECE.

The European Commission has put an end to proceedings against Greece on broadcasting, it announced on 1 February, following the notification by the member state, in September last year, of its law on media concentration, which liberalises both the analogue and digital sectors.

"Companies who want to invest in Greece, in particular in digital broadcasting, will now be fully aware of rights and obligations," said EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, believing that "Greek consumers have been deprived of the benefits of the digital economy for too long".

To achieve this result, the EU executive twice had to refer Greece to the European Court of Justice for failure to respect directive 2002/77/EC, which extends liberalisation to all electronic communication services, including broadcasting. Despite the court's ruling on 14 April 2005, which proved the Commission right, the Greek law on...