SIC ... transit gloria mundi. La Corte di giustizia dichiara le soglie asimmetriche del sistema integrato delle comunicazioni incompatibili con la libertà di stabilimento (CGUE 5a Sez., Sent. 3/9/2020, causa C-719/18, Vivendi SA v. Autorità Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni e Mediaset”)

The article aims to comment on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-719/18 “Vivendi SA v. Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni”. It declared, in the context of a preliminary referral by an Italian administrative court (the “TAR Lazio”), incompatible with the freedom of establishment, certain anti-concentration limits set forth by Italian legislation for the protection of media pluralism. In particular, the anti-concentration limits, set forth in Article 43, paragraph 11 of Legislative Decree No. 177/05 (Italian Code on Audiovisual Media Services), do not pass the scrutiny of the CJUE. The provision, which was introduced in 2004, prevents an undertaking (including through “affiliated” companies) from achieving turnover exceeding 40% of the overall combined revenues of the electronic communications sector in Italy while simultaneously achieving turnover exceeding 10% of the overall combined revenues of the “Integrated System of Communications” (or “SIC”). The SIC is a basket of media, advertising, and publishing markets specifically introduced by the AVMS Code. The comment first reflects on the origin of the provision subject to censorship. Second, it reconstructs the case and the proceedings before the TAR Lazio that stems from an appeal filed by Vivendi SA against a decision of the Italian Authority for Communications (“AGCOM”) whereby – for the first time ever –applied the ban in Article 43(11) of the AVMS Code. Then, the comment analyzes the Court's arguments and reasoning. Finally, it shows the possible scenarios that arise after the ruling of the CJEU.