Finland supplements its reply on Sanoma’s complaint concerning YLE

Finland has sent a supplementary reply to the European Commission on a complaint submitted by Sanoma Media Finland Ltd concerning state aid for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. The first reply was sent to the Commission on 21 June 2021.

According to the supplementary reply, the complaint is largely based on false assumptions about the market and does not sufficiently take into account general market trends and the special status of YLE.

Due to EU legislation and its implementation, correspondence with the Commission is, as a rule, confidential. However, the Ministry of Transport and Communications aims to address the matter as openly and transparently as possible.

When Finland sent the supplementary reply, it requested the Commission's permission to release a public version of it. Finland is currently waiting for the Commission to response to the request. After having presented a corresponding request in spring 2021 with regard to the first reply, Finland received a permission from the Commission to publish those documents.

Background

The complaint submitted by Sanoma Media Finland Ltd to the European Commission concerns, in particular, the video-on-demand services and electronic learning content of YLE. Currently, YLE produces video-on-demand services and provides them in Yle Areena. In the complainant's view, the services do not comply with EU state aid legislation.

A complaint against the state of Finland concerning the extent of YLE's tasks has been submitted earlier by the Finnish Media Federation. As a result, a government proposal was submitted and it is now under parliamentary consideration.

Inquiries

Olli-Pekka Rantala, Director-General, Data Department, tel. +358 50 344 3400

Sini Wirén, Director of Unit, tel. +358 40 507 0916