After months of argument over the European Commission’s power to vet their cable television venture in Spain, French pay television operator Canal Plus SA and telecommunications firm Telefonica de Espana SA have submitted plans for European Union clearance. The Commission said the operation was notified under European Community merger rules that ban creation or strengthening of dominant positions. Telefonica and the Sogecable SA subsidiary of Canal Plus and Promotora de Informaciones SA, agreed to set up a company called Cablevision to provide technical, administrative and commercial services to cable operators. The deal was cleared by Spain in March, but in April, the Commission warned the companies that they risked being fined and that the deal could be declared illegal by a European court. It is cracking down on media deals which might close the fast growing pay-television market to competition.
