SES Welcomes European Court of Justice's Judgment in the Case of Spanish State Aids to Digital Television

Written on 22 Dec 2017

Luxembourg, 22 December 2017 -- SES is pleased to note that the European Union's Court of Justice in Luxembourg rejected all but one of the six appeals brought against the EU tribunal's first instance judgment by the Kingdom of Spain, two Abertis affiliates and various Spanish regions in the case of the Spanish state aids to digital television.

The Court confirmed all legal points brought about by the Commission in its decision of June 2013, with the exception of one point that has been considered as lacking enough motivation to be accepted. According to the Court, the Commission needs to more clearly explain the grounds on which it found the state aids for the roll-out of the digital terrestrial television in Spain to be selective. While in its ruling the Court has annulled the EU's first instance judgment and the Commission's decision, this annulment is based on formal grounds only and can in no way be interpreted as having accepted the merits of the arguments brought forward in the appeals against the Commission's decision and the EU's first instance judgment of November 2015.

It should thus suffice that the EU Commission completes the motivation of that particular aspect of the decision, re-adopts and re-issues it for it to be enforceable again , said John Purvis, Chief Legal Officer of SES. This would in turn mean that, by then, the Commission's decision would become fully enforceable in Spain in all its aspects concerning the illegal and incompatible state aids to the roll-out of the digital terrestrial television in Spain, allowing SES to compete as fairly as in other parts of Europe and around the world. While it will take more time than expected to achieve technological neutrality and competition on the merits, SES considers it essential that the current process be brought to completion to enable competition on the merits in Europe and in Spain in particular to the ultimate benefit of the digital television viewers in Spain and beyond.

Read more about the background of the case

About SES SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). SES focuses on value-added, end-to-end solutions in two key business units: SES Video and SES Networks. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions. SES's portfolio includes ASTRA, O3b and MX1, a leading media service provider that offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services. SES is listed on the Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (ticker: SESG). Further information available at: www.ses.com

LINK:	https://www.ses.com/press-release/ses-welcomes-european-court-justices...
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