EU Commission clears acquisition of Naspers' online classifieds businesses in Asia by Schibsted, Telenor and Singapore Press Holdings - as well as acquisition of Brazilian online classified business by Schibsted, Telenor and Naspers

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The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of joint control over the online classifieds businesses of Naspers in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam by Schibsted ASA of Norway, Telenor ASA of Norway and Singapore Press Holdings Ltd of Singapore. Schibsted and Singapore Press Holdings are international media groups, while Telenor is a telecommunications operator. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given that the target business will only operate in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and thus outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Moreover, the companies' activities do not overlap. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.7447.

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Also, the European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of joint control over Bomnegocio Ativades Ltda of Brazil by SnT Classifieds ANS of Norway and Naspers Limited of South Africa. Bomnegocio, currently solely controlled by SnT, provides online classified services in Brazil. SnT is a joint venture between Schibsted ASA, an international media group, and Telenor ASA, a telecommunications operator, both of Norway. Naspers is a broad-based global multimedia group. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given that Bomnegocio will only operate in Brazil and thus outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Moreover, the companies' activities do not overlap. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.7446.




MEIST GELESEN/POPULAR READS

CJEU on Spiegel Online: The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation

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Source: Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-516/17 Spiegel Online de en fr Freedom of establishment The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation Court of Justice of the European Union PRESS RELEASE No 101/19 Luxembourg, 29 July 2019 Judgment in Case C-516/17 Spiegel Online v Volker Beck The use of a protected work for the purposes of reporting current events does not, in principle, require a prior request for authorisation Furthermore, a work may be quoted by means of a hyperlink, provided that that quoted work, in its specific form, was previously made available to the public with the copyright holder’s authorisation or in accordance with a non-contractual licence or statutory authorisation Volker Beck, a former member of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament, Germany) is the author of a manuscript on criminal policy relating to sexual offences committed against minors, which was publish
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EU Commission clears acquisition of Skoobe by Klio, Holtzbrinck, Verlagsgruppe Random House and Arvato CRM Solutions

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The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of the whole of Skoobe GmbH by Klio GmbH, Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH & Co. KG ("Holtzbrinck"), Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH ("Random House") and Arvato CRM Solutions GmbH ("Arvato"), all of Germany. Skoobe offers the temporary rental of e-books over its online platform www.skoobe.de and via its own application. Klio is active as a book retailer. Holtzbrinck is an international media company that is active in trade-book publishing, education and science, newspapers and magazines as well as electronic media and services. Random House is a publishing house of Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA ("Bertelsmann") active in the area of fictional and non-fictional books, books for children and adolescents, audio and e-books. Arvato is an international service company of Bertelsmann offering various technical services. Bertelsmann is an international med
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EU auditors scrutinize EU Commission's annual 24.5m € support to NBC affiliate Euronews

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Source: ECA -  eca.europa.eu EU support helps Euronews to broaden its coverage of European affairs, but funding needs to be better monitored, say EU Auditors. The EU’s support of an average of €24.5 million a year has helped Euronews to develop a unique business model and broadcast programmes on EU affairs in a number of languages, according to a new rapid case review by the European Court of Auditors. However, most citizens in the EU are unable to access it, as the channel is not a public service broadcaster in any Member State. Moreover, the auditors identified shortcomings in the way the European Commission monitors the performance of Euronews against agreed objectives and commitments made. Euronews was created in 1993 by ten European public broadcasters to reinforce European identity and integration, and the EU has provided it with financial support since then. In recent years, it has changed its ownership structure by acquiring private investors. The auditors analysed the
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EU Commission presents a directory of European films to facilitate on-line access

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Link - Source: EU Commission Other available languages: FR DE DA ES NL IT SV PT FI EL CS ET HU LT LV MT PL SK SL BG RO HR Brussels, 18 October 2018 On the occasion of the Marché international du film classique [International Classic Film Market] in Lyon, Mariya Gabriel, the Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, will today present the prototype of a directory of European films, a key action of the Digital4Culture strategy which is also part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. Launched with the assistance of the European Audiovisual Observatory, the new directory will help professionals, the public authorities and citizens to find information about European films and their availability on-line in video-on-demand (VOD) services throughout the European Union. Commissioner Gabriel said: "It is up to us to ensure that European works enjoy the audience that they deserve. Digital transformation has the potential to reinforce the positive impact of
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EU-Mitgliedstaaten einigen sich auf niedrigere Mehrwertsteuer für E-Books

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Link 02/10/2018 Quelle: Vertretung der EU in Berlin Die Finanzminister der EU-Mitgliedstaaten haben heute (Dienstag) einen Durchbruch bei der Mehrwertsteuer erzielt. Unter anderem wurden die Mehrwertsteuersätze für elektronische Veröffentlichungen wie etwa E-Books, die derzeit in den meisten Mitgliedstaaten zum Normalsatz besteuert werden, an die günstigere Regelung für gedruckte Veröffentlichungen angepasst. Darüber hinaus einigte man sich auf neue Vorschriften zum Informationsaustausch und auf eine engere Zusammenarbeit zwischen nationalen Steuerbehörden und Strafverfolgungsbehörden. Betrug und Steuerhinterziehung in diesem Sektor dürften somit künftig schwieriger werden. „Glaubt man den jüngsten Zahlen, so gehen den Mitgliedstaaten jährlich immer noch rund 150 Mrd. Euro an MwSt. verloren. Die heutigen Vereinbarungen sind ein wichtiger Schritt zur Lösung dieses Problems“, erklärte EU-Wirtschafts- und Finanzkommissar Pierre Moscovici. Nach den geltenden Mehrwertsteuervorschriften
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