EU: Commission Accepts Spanish Law

The EC has accepted a revised version of Spain’s Ley Digital, or digital TV law, although with some reservations. The original law caused conflict between the Spanish government and the EC as it imposed standards that outlawed a version of pay-TV set-top decoding boxes, unfairly favouring the system used by state broadcasters. The EU sent on 26 June a formal letter warning the Spanish government that it would initiate a legal case against it unless the law were revised, on the basis that it infringed rules on free market movement. The EC initiated infringement proceedings against Spain over this issue, but these have now been dropped, although the EC has reserved its right to re-open them if the revised law is found not to be working fairly.