EU Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said that the number of TV licenses in Greece was a matter for Greek authorities to decide, according to a report published by the Greek Deutsche Welle website.
“The question whether licenses should be four, five, six or 10, for public or private television stations, is an affair of national states per se and the free decision-making process of parliaments,” said Oettinger, replying to questions put forth during a press briefing on the European Commission’s proposals on the media. He was asked by a reporter as to whether Greece’s decision to limit the number of private television statements is a threat to media freedom. He said that the EC would intervene if the licensing process appeared to be interfering with media plurality and freedom.
Oettinger said that the European Commission would move against Greece on the basis of EU treaties if it had any proof finding that the government was interfering in the freedom of the media. He said he had received many messages concerning the landscape and said he was working with two Greek MEPs to determine the situation in Greece, but did not name the MEPs.
The European Commission had sent a letter of formal notice to Greece on June 16 concerning the withdrawal of digital terrestrial television frequencies from DIGEA, the digital signal provider. Questions at the time had been raised about the independence of the national telecoms regulator. Greece had two months to reply, however, on Friday, it was noted that the country had failed to give a satisfactory answer. This issue and many more concerning the Greek TV landscape are currently under scrutiny.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
