The European Commission has used the principle of freedom of establishment within the single market to denounce a new tax on the media decided by the Hungarian government of Victor Orban as a threat to pluralism contrary to European principles.
"Press freedom is under threat in Hungary", wrote the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, in an article published on her blog. http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/blog/media-freedom-remains-under-threat-hungary and picked up by the Hungarian press.
«This new tax was approved in Parliament without adequate debate and without any consultation. In fact – added Kroes – it disproportionately affects a single media, RTL”, i.e. RTL Group Luxembourg, the first European audiovisual media group according to which this tax would increase its tax burden by around 15 million euros a year, which corresponds to the gross operating margin that the whole group achieves in Hungary, on a turnover of 100 million. RTL holds 80% of the company Magyar RTL Rt Televízió in this country.
Kroes continues in her blog: «RTL is one of the few channels in Hungary that does not promote a pro-Fidesz line (the governing party, ed); it is not difficult to understand that the goal is to get the company out of Hungary. The Hungarian government does not want a neutral foreign-owned broadcaster in Hungary; an unjust tax is being used to erase democratic guarantees, and vent a perceived challenge to its power. Freedom of establishment is a fundamental principle of the single market.' In short, the Dutch commissioner strongly attacks the Hungarian government asking not to use the tax authorities as a discriminatory element.
Not only. According to the European Commissioner, “it's not just a question of a tax or a single company: it's part of a model that is deeply worrying; a model contrary to the values of the European Union. Taxation cannot be a tool of discrimination, and tax policy should not be a political weapon."
The new Hungarian-style tax, described by local newspapers as an attempt by the executive to control the entire sector, is in line with a series of very heavy tax measures on some economic areas, often dominated by foreign companies. The recent law that unloads the heavy costs of famous foreign currency mortgages on banks is another example of a mechanism that attempts to punish foreign investors through ad hoc regulations and push foreign companies to leave the country. In defiance of the single market. So Budapest risks moving away from the European Union.
