The EU Commission rules that subsidy for digital terrestrial television in Germany is illegal (DVB-T)

"Commission rules subsidy for digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) in Berlin-Brandenburg illegal"*I. Introduction On 9 November 2005, the Commission took a final decision regarding subsidies for the introduction of digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) in the German Landerof Berlin and Brandenburg. It decided that the subsidies worth some € 4 million granted to commercial broadcasters for the use of the DVB-T network violated European state aid rules because they were liable to distort competition. The subsidies, which had not been notified to the Commission, must be paid back insofar as already paid over to broadcasters. This concerns about half the total amount of the subsidies. This is the first time the Commission has in the area of DVB-T come to decision after having conducted