In 2009, a prohibition on advertising by France Télévisions between the hours of 20.00 and 6.00 was introduced in France. By way of compensation, France allocated EUR 450 million from the general State budget for 2009, and the national legislation was amended to introduce two new taxes: one on advertisements payable by all television services established in France and the other on certain telecoms providers.

The budgetary grant of EUR 450 million was notified to the European Commission, which found it compatible with the common market. The General Court upheld this Decision (10/07/2012) in the subsequent appeal by TF1, M6 and Canal+.

The new multiannual financing mechanism of France Télévisions was also notified to the Commission and was also found to be compatible with the common market. In this new judgment, the General Court has now upheld the Commission's conclusions, rejecting all arguments put forward by the appellant, TF1. Notably, the General Court has made clear that the Commission does not have the competence to take into account the economic efficiency of a Service of General Economic Interest in its State aid compatibility assessment.

The General Court also confirmed that the new taxes are not directly linked to the funding of France Télévisions (as they are paid into the State budget) and therefore, they were not part of the State aid assessment. The legality of the new tax on telecoms providers was in fact subject to separate proceedings brought by the Commission against France for an alleged breach of the Authorisation Directive. However, the European Court of Justice recently found against the Commission (27/06/2013), holding that the new taxes fall outside the scope of the Authorisation Directive entirely.

For more information on the decision of 27 June 2013, click here