Court Raps France's Tv Action Court Raps France's Tv Action / European Body Says Country...

The European Court has condemned the European Commission for failing to act on a 1993 complaint brought by France's leading commercial network, TF1, against the French state for unfairly subsidizing pubcasters France 2 and France 3.

TF1 claims that French state subsidies for the two channels distort the market and are contrary to European legislation.

"The commission failed to uphold its obligation ... by abstaining from taking a decision on the part of the complaint related to state subsidies," the court said.

The condemnation does not imply any financial penalties on the EC, nor any obligation for action, but it will increase pressure on the commission to arbitrate on the highly controversial political issue of public TV financing in member countries of the European Union.

Private broadcasters across the EU have complained about state funding of their public rivals, which, they allege, allow pubcasters to undercut advertisers' fees and to outbid commercial stations for valuable sports broadcasting rights.

The EC has already been condemned for failing to act in similar cases in Spain and Italy, and in February, the EU's competition watchdog formally summoned the French, Italian and Spanish governments to provide details of public TV funding for assessment.