berlusconi's media power: rete 4 should have been on satellite since 1999; european court of justice's fine to italy will cost italians 350.000 euro a day - the florence newspaper
BERLUSCONI'S MEDIA POWER: Rete 4 should have been on satellite since 1999; European Court of Justice's fine to Italy will cost Italians 350.000 Euro a day
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Berlusconi’s Television Rete 4 will cost the Italians 350,000 euro a day. From January 1st 2006, retroactively.
The European Court of Justice has pronounced a sentence ordering Italy to pay a fine of 130 million euro a year if Rete 4 does not hand over to Europa 7 the frequencies that Berlusconi has in concession from the State.
According to the European Union, the assigning of frequencies in Italy does not respect the free delivery of services and does not have objective selection criteria.
The European verdict is the third one in favour of Europa 7, after that of the Constitutional Court and the Council of State. Berlusconi recently stated that he will remove the ICI tax (the tax that owners of houses must pay), but brings in the Rete 4 licence fee.
Are there no conflicts of interest? Why do the Italians have to pay to watch “journalists” like Emilio Fede every evening? If Berlusconi - the public concessionary of 3 national TV channels - doesn’t move Rete 4 onto satellite, at the end of his mandate the Italians will pay about a billion euro in fines when you consider the back payments.
As well as the public concession, the paid advertising on 3 channels inherited from former leader of the Italian socialist party and Prime Minister Bettino Craxi, Berlusconi will also have public financing. It is important to notice that Rete 4 should have been on satellite since 1999, so Europa 7, that is fighting for its right to broadcast, has lost almost ten years of nationwide commercial selling.
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