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Public tax mooted to finance Spain's RTVE
Iñaki Ferreras ©RapidTVNews | 22-07-2010
Angel García Castillejo, lead member of Spain’s Telecommunications Market Commission, has given support to The European Commission’s decision over Spain’s law to finance national public broadcaster RTVE by means of a tax on telcos.
García Castillejo is backing a public tax to finance the public broadcaster such as it happens in the UK with the BBC’s licence fee. “The moment has arrived for the citizens to account for the financing of the public broadcasters,” he told a conference organised by the association for telcos and electronic industries ASIMELEC.
Meanwhile, Martín Pérez, president of ASIMELEC welcomed the news from Europe since for him the tax of 0.9% on telecoms company incomes was “an injustice and this was an illegal measure,” he said.
If the decision of the EC gets finally confirmed Spain’s government has two months to introduce an appeal. If unsuccessful the government will be obliged to return the money to the telcos, which is considered “illegal” by them.
