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【案例】 欧盟对有争议的法国媒体合并的调查向前推进 在欧盟执委会确定了一系列关于合并对法语区国家和法国杂志出版业图书价值链影响的担忧后，调查进入了下一阶段。 欧盟委员会将对另一家国家巨头维旺迪收购法国媒体集团Lagardère的提议进行深入的反垄断调查 在欧盟执行官确定了对合并对法语欧洲国家和法国杂志出版业图书价值链影响的若干担忧后，调查进入下一阶段 维旺迪的老板、法国亿万富翁文森特·博洛雷（Vincent Bolloré）已经是一个有争议的人物。去年，无国界记者组织（RSF）在一部纪录片中称，他对维旺迪集团内众多媒体的报道“无情”控制，对新闻自由和民主构成了威胁 法国亿万富翁博勒雷对新闻自由构成“真正的危险” 非政府组织“无国界记者”（Reporters Without Borders）周四发布并在社交媒体上分享的一部名为《B系统》（System B）的纪录片称，商人文森特·博洛雷（Vincent Bolloré）的做法“对新闻自由，也对民主构成了真正的威胁”。 欧盟竞争事务专员玛格丽特·维斯塔格（Margrethe Vestager）表示：“图书出版的竞争市场促进了思想的多样性。它使价值链的每一部分都能蓬勃发展，从内容的创造到发行。”。 她说：“维旺迪收购Lagardère将两家法语书籍和流行杂志的领先出版商聚集在一起。因此，这项交易需要仔细评估，因为它可能会减少选择，导致法语书籍和某些法语杂志的读者价格更高、可及性更低、质量更低。” 这笔交易 委员会上个月对该交易展开了初步调查，并于周三（11月30日）宣布，基于对维旺迪收购拉加代尔可能阻碍图书和杂志市场竞争的担忧，委员会打算将诉讼程序推进到深入调查 初步调查发现，合并可能会降低法语图书采购、分销和营销方面的竞争，以及对零售商的销售，这将使维旺迪成为法语图书出版行业的顶级参与者 委员会警告说，这可能导致这些产品的多样性、可及性和可负担性降低，并可能减少出版商的收入，限制他们获得关键服务的机会，提高消费者的价格 这项收购还被发现有可能影响法国杂志市场的竞争，因为它将合并三个名人杂志标题。 委员会指出，维旺迪和拉加德已经是欧洲经济区（EEA）法语国家图书和杂志市场的重要参与者，他们的存在跨越了图书价值链，从获得出版权到向零售商分销和销售图书 布鲁塞尔现在将在2023年4月19日之前对此案作出裁决。维旺迪拒绝对这一宣布发表评论 争议并不陌生 维旺迪传媒集团旗下包括电影、杂志和出版业在内的一些媒体巨头，包括Canal+、Dailymotion和Gameloft。 该公司的主要股东文森特·博洛雷（Vincent Bolloré）过去曾因其行业运营受到严重批评，包括去年RSF纪录片中对记者的欺凌和骚扰指控，该纪录片称他“对新闻自由，但也对民主构成真正的威胁”，并谴责他的“残忍手段” Bolloré的另一家媒体CNews也因其日益右倾的策略而受到关注。该电视频道被视为以美国福克斯新闻（Fox News）为榜样，近年来因其广播内容以及在今年总统竞选期间对极右翼候选人埃米尔·泽穆尔（Éric Zemmour）的广泛报道而受到批评 集中注意力 这也不是最近唯一一次引起争议的法国媒体合并。 去年5月，法国两大电视集团TF1和M6宣布合并计划，试图与美国大型流媒体平台竞争。媒体集团Iliad集团于2021 11月将该交易提交欧洲委员会审查。 今年早些时候，尽管法国反垄断机构AdlC发布了一份报告，认为这将带来“严重的竞争问题”，但这两家公司坚称将推进计划中的合并。 来源：欧洲动态 编辑：吴漫 原文： EU inquiry into controversial French media merger moves ahead The investigation progressed to the next stage after the EU Executive identified a number of concerns about the merger’s impact on the book value chain across French-speaking EEA countries and France’s magazine publishing industry. [Shutterstock / Pavel Kapysh] [url=]Print[/url] The European Commission will conduct an in-depth antitrust investigation into the proposed acquisition of the French media group Lagardère by another national colossus, Vivendi. The investigation progressed to the next stage after the EU executive identified several concerns about the merger’s impact on the book value chain across French-speaking European countries and France’s magazine publishing industry. Vivendi’s owner, French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is already a controversial figure, described in a documentary by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last year as a threat to press freedom and democracy for what the organisation said was his “ruthless” control of reporting by the numerous media outlets within the Vivendi group. French billionaire Bolloré poses ‘real danger’ to press freedomThe practices of businessman Vincent Bolloré represents “a real danger for press freedom, but also for democracy,” according to a documentary called “System B” released Thursday by NGO Reporters Without Borders and shared on social media. The documentary denounces the “brutal … “Competitive markets in book publishing foster the diversity of ideas. It enables each part of the value chain to thrive, from the creation of content to the distribution,” said the EU’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. “The acquisition of Lagardère by Vivendi brings together two leading publishers of French-language books and popular magazines. Therefore, the transaction needs to be carefully assessed as it could reduce choice and lead to higher prices, less accessibility and lower quality for readers of French-language books and of certain French magazines,” she said. The deal The Commission launched preliminary inquiries into the deal last month and on Wednesday (30 November) announced its intention to advance proceedings to an in-depth investigation based on concerns that Vivendi’s purchase of Lagardère could hinder competition in both the book and magazine markets. The preliminary investigation found that competition in the purchasing, distribution, and marketing of French-language books, along with their sale to retailers, could all be potentially decreased by the merger, which would make Vivendi the top actor in the French-language book publishing sector. This could result in a reduction in the diversity, accessibility and affordability of these products, the Commission warned, and could reduce revenues of publishers, restrict their access to crucial services and up prices for consumers. The acquisition was also found to have the potential to impact competition in France’s magazine market, as it would combine three celebrity magazine titles. Vivendi and Lagardère are already both significant players in the book and magazine markets in French-speaking countries across the European Economic Area (EEA), and their presence spans the book value chain, the Commission noted, running from the acquisition of publishing rights to the distribution and sale of books to retailers. Brussels will now have until 19 April 2023 to issue a decision in the case. Vivendi declined to comment on the announcement. No stranger to controversyThe Vivendi media group contains some big names in media, spanning cinema, magazines and publishing, including Canal+, Dailymotion and Gameloft. Its primary shareholder, Vincent Bolloré, has attracted significant criticism in the past for his industry operations, including allegations of bullying and harassment of journalists made in an RSF documentary last year, which branded him “a real danger for press freedom, but also for democracy” and denounced his “brutal methods”. CNews, another of Bolloré’s media outlets, has also drawn attention for its increasingly rightwards tack. The TV channel, seen as modelling itself on the US’ Fox News, has been criticised in recent years for the content of its broadcasting and its extensive coverage of far-right candidate Éric Zemmour during this year’s presidential contest. Focus on concentration This is also not the only recent French media merger to cause controversy. Plans to combine two leading French TV groups, TF1 and M6, in an attempt to compete with large-scale US streaming platforms, were met with significant competition concerns when announced in May last year. Media conglomerate the Iliad group referred the deal to the European Commission for scrutiny in November 2021. Earlier this year, the two players insisted that they would push ahead with their planned merger, despite a report by French antitrust authority AdlC, which concluded that it would present “significant competition problems”. French media colossus plans undeterred by antitrust reportFrench broadcasting giants TF1 and M6 said they will not change their merger plans to establish what commentators say could lead to the creation of a media colossus, despite competition watchdog, AdlC, saying it would pose “significant competition problems”. The deal has sparked debate in France about the dangers of excessive media concentration, something which has also been the subject of recent regulatory initiatives at the EU level. In September, the Commission published its European Media Freedom Act proposal, which is set to give Brussels the power to assess media market concentrations to bolster media pluralism and shed light on ownership. Commission releases Media Freedom Act proposal, to mixed reactionsThe Commission has released its proposal for a Media Freedom Act, to mixed reaction from civil society and media sector organisations. [Edited by Luca Bertuzzi/Zoran Radosavljevic]
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发表于 2022-11-16 23:33:04
