Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 18 July 2013 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio — Italy) — Sky Italia Srl v Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni

(Case C-234/12) (1)

(Television broadcasting - Directive 2010/13/EU - Articles 4(1) and 23(1) - Advertising spots - National rule laying down a maximum percentage of broadcasting time which can be dedicated to advertising for pay-TV broadcasters which is lower than that laid down for free-to-air TV broadcasters - Equal treatment - Freedom to provide services)

2013/C 260/26

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Sky Italia Srl

Defendant: Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni

Intervening parties: Reti Televisive Italiane (RTI) SpA, Maria Iaccarino

Re:

Request for a preliminary ruling — Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale per il Lazio — Interpretation of Article 4 of Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (OJ 2010 L 95, p. 1) — Interpretation of Articles 49 TFEU, 56 TFEU and 63 TFEU and of Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, read in conjunction with Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights — Maximum percentage of broadcasting time which may be devoted to advertising — National legislation laying down a lower maximum percentage for pay-TV channels than for other channels

Operative part of the judgment

Article 4(1) of Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive), as well as the principle of equal treatment and Article 56 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding, in principle, a national rule, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which lays down shorter hourly television advertising limits for pay-TV broadcasters than those set for free-to-air broadcasters, provided that the principle of proportionality is observed, which is a matter for the referring court to assess.

(1)  OJ C 217, 21.7.2012.