EU 집행위원회의 공영방송 재원 규제: EU 국가보조 금지 법규와 공영방송 = European Commission Control of State Aid to Public Service Broadcasting

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) board of directors in June 2021 voted on a plan to increase the license fee of its public service broadcaster. Discussions at the National Assembly on the increase plan, which passed through the Korea Communications Commission to the legislature according to the law, have stalled as of June 2022, a year later. The support of the citizens currently is not higher than that of the past three failed attempts to raise the fee. Also, the Korean formula "the government and the ruling party support the increase, while the opposition party objects to it" seems to have broken. One can interpret this as proof that unlike the past, the adhesion between the regime and KBS has weakened. On the other hand, it may be a sign that even the government and the ruling party are opposed to or lukewarm about the increase in license fees. However, one can conclude that they are not interested in financial stability of public service broadcasting (PSB).
In fact, KBS is in a difficult state to predict the future. In the past 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the public broadcaster suffered operating losses almost every year. With revenue fixed at less than 1.5 trillion Korean won, if KBS has ever seen a surplus in a year, it is because it has reduced production spending or sold assets such as real estate. As a result, so-called “emergency management,” which reduces the size of expenditure, has become a routine. Considering the increase in GDP of South Korea so far, KBS's real revenue and production expenditure can be interpreted that it actually dropped more than 40%. Fortunately, the decline was able to stop at this level because the program sales revenue supplemented the decreasing advertising sales. One-person households, which increased with changes in the social structure of Korea, also helped increase the license fees revenue charged by each household. If the attempt to raise the license fee fails again and the increase in one-person households stagnates, KBS will fall into a vicious circle where its financial status becomes more worse and it gets away from viewers' attention as its performance weakens, and it is difficult to obtain consent from citizens for raising license fees.
One more thing to consider here is KBS's online media activities. Currently, there are few regulations that prevent KBS from expanding into any new service areas such as YouTube or news web pages, regardless of whether it uses any financial resources such as license fees or advertising income. There has been strong advice from media experts to go further in advancing new media, but KBS is criticized for being trapped in a paradigm centered on terrestrial broadcasting. This is in stark contrast to its Western counterparts, which is having difficulty entering the new media area due to various restrictions. Major Western public broadcasters have struggled to transform to public service media (PSM) due to opposition from commercial broadcasters and commercial online media competitors. In particular, the position of the European Commission (EC), which should seek fairness in trade according to regional integration, has become an important restriction.
Assuming the possibility of the evolution of PSB in Korea, it is necessary to re-examine the identity of this social institution and the meaning of license fees in advance in consideration of the EU case. Although the use of license fees in the new media sector is not yet on the agenda in Korea, if PSB expands its influence in the new media market with higher license fees, commercial competitors may start to raise the issue as in Europe. It may be crucial to check this matter in advance and establish a framework for understanding the use of public funds and its conditions.
For this reason, this article examines the European Commission’s policy on the application of State aid rules to PSB. Related provisions in the EU treaties and guidelines set out by the Commission are rev...

참고문헌 (Reference)

• 1 한국방송공사, "제987차 정기이사회 의사록"
• 2 한국방송공사, "제981차 정기이사회 의사록"
• 3 강형철, "융합미디어와 공익" 나남 2016
• 4 방송통신위원회, "수신료 조정안에 대한 방송통신위원회 의견서"
• 5 조현호, "민주당⋅KBS 출신에서 나온 수신료 인상 반대 목소리"
• 6 강형철, "공영방송 재창조: 공영방송에서 공영미디어로" 나남 2012
• 7 오형일 ; 홍종윤 ; 정영주, "공영방송 KBS의 경영 현황과 책무 재설정: 수신료 정상화 담론과 방만 경영 담론을 넘어" 한국방송학회 (113) : 53-92, 2021
• 8 Goddard, P., "‘Distinctiveness’ and the BBC: a new battleground for public service television?" 39 (39): 1089-1099, 2017
• 9 European Commission, "Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts-Protocol annexed to the Treaty of the European Community-Protocol on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States" C340 : 1997
• 10 Donders, K., "The politics of pleasing: A critical analysis of multistakeholderism in Public Service Media policies in Flanders" 41 (41): 347-366, 2019
• 11 Harcourt, A. J., "The politics of Europeanization" OUP Oxford 179-202, 2003
• 12 Psychogiopoulou, E., "The integration of cultural considerations in EU law and policies" Brill 2008
• 13 Jones, A., "The boundaries of an undertaking in EU competition law" 8 (8): 301-331, 2012
• 14 Goyanes, M., "The Values of Public Service Media in the Internet Society" Palgrave Macmillan 21-42, 2021
• 15 Rodríguez-Castro, M., "The Ex Ante Test as a Sign of the Evolution of the European Commission Decision Making in the Field of Public Service Media" Springer 909-918, 2019
• 16 Ward, D., "The European Union and the Culture Industries" Routledge 59-80, 2016
• 17 Tigchelaar, N., "State aid to public broadcasting–Revisited" 2 (2): 169-182, 2003
• 18 European Commission, "State aid NoN37/2003 – United Kingd om BBC Digital Curriculum" C271 : 2003
• 19 Donders, K., "State Aid to Public Service Media : European Commission Decisional Practice Before and After the 2009 Broadcasting Communication" 14 (14): 68-87, 2015
• 20 Donders, K., "State Aid and Public Service Broadcasting How Future-proof is the Remit of Public Broadcasting Organisations?" IES 2009
• 21 Zhu, L., "Services of General Economic Interest in EU Competition Law" TMC Asser Press, The Hague 2020
• 22 European Commission, "SA.39346 (2014/FC) - Implementation of Commission Decision in case E 4/2005 - State financing of Radio Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)and Teilifís na Gaeilge (TG4) - Ireland" C307 : 2017
• 23 European Commission, "SA.18957 (E3/2005) Aid to the German public broadcasters" C185 : 2005
• 24 European Commission, "SA.17780 (N313/2004) Recapitalisation of TV 2Denmark" C172 : 2004
• 25 Woldt, R., "Reinventing Public Service Communication:European Broadcasters and Beyond" Palgrave Macmillan 171-182, 2010
• 26 강형철, "Raison D'être of Public Service Broadcasting and Its New Values: Challenges after the Leadership Shift in 2017-18" 언론정보연구소 55 (55): 5-55, 2018
• 27 Sauter, W., "Public services in EU law" Cambridge University Press 2014
• 28 Campos-Freire, F., "Public service media’s funding crisis in the face of the digital challenge" Springer 671-680, 2020
• 29 Donders, K., "Public service media in Europe: Law, theory and practice" Routledge 2021
• 30 Donders, K., "Public service media and policy in Europe" Palgrave Macmillan 2012
• 31 Weidemann, V., "Public service broadcasting, state aid, and the internet : Emerging EU law" 2004 (2004): 595-604, 2004
• 32 ACT, "Press release: European media business welcomes clarification of rules applying to state aid to public broadcasters"
• 33 Williams, C., "Netflix chief Reed Hastings takes on telcos, cinemas and global expansion"
• 34 Moe, H., "Media, democracy and European culture" Intellect Books 215-239, 2008
• 35 European Commission, "Legal Framework conditions applicable to State aid to public service broadcasting" 2019
• 36 한국방송공사, "KBS 비상경영 계획"
• 37 European Court of Justice, "Judgment of the Court of 24 July 2003. Altmark Trans GmbH and Regierungspräsidium Magdeburg v Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Altmark GmbH, and Oberbundesanwalt beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht.#Reference for a preliminary ruling: Bundesverwaltungsgericht – Germany. #Regulation (EEC) No 1191/69 - Operation of urban, suburban and regional scheduled transport services - Public subsidies - Concept of State aid - Compensation for discharging public service obligations. #Case C-280/00"
• 38 Michalis, M., "Is the public interest under threat? Public service broadcasting, market failure and new technologies : the view from the European Union" 1 (1): 185-201, 2010
• 39 Brevini, B., "European Commission media policy and its pro-market inclination : The revised 2009 Communication on State Aid to PSBs and its restraining effect on PSB online" 28 (28): 183-197, 2013
• 40 European Commission, "EBU/Eurovision Decision Case No. IV/32.150" L179 : 23-37, 1993
• 41 Council of the European Union, "Council Regulation. No 659/1999 of 22 March 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Article 93 of the EC Treaty" L083 : 1999
• 42 European Commission, "Communication from the Commission on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting" C320 : 2001
• 43 European Commission, "Communication from the Commission on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting" C257 : 2009
• 44 European Commission, "Commission staffworking document : guide to the application of the European Union rules on state aid, public procurement and the internal market to services of general economic interest, and in particular to social services of general interest" 29 (29): 53-, 2013
• 45 European Commission, "Commission decision of 22.06.2006 on the ad hocfinancing of Dutch public service broadcasters C2/2004/(ex NN 170/2003)" L49 : 2006
• 46 BBC, "BBC suspends net learning project"
• 47 Department for Culture, Media and Sport, "BBC Charter Review public consultation"
• 48 Melcher, M., "Article 106(2)TFEU in Case Law : Internalization and Customized Balancing of Welfare and Market Interests" 6 (6): 1-18, 2019
• 49 Mortensen, F., "Altmark, Article 86(2)and public service broadcasting" 7 (7): 239-249, 2008
• 50 European Commission, "Aid NN 88/98, Financing of a 24-hour advertising free news channel with licence fee by the BBC" C78 : 2000