ANTITRUST: URBANI’S APPOINTMENT TO RAI’S BOARD “COMPATIBLE”
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
ANTITRUST: URBANI’S APPOINTMENT TO RAI’S BOARD “COMPATIBLE”
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 13 July 2005, concluded its investigation into former Minister of Culture Giuliano Urbani, who on 17 May last was appointed to the Board of Directors of state broadcaster RAI. The investigation was undertaken to assess whether this was a case of incompatibility as defined in the law on conflict of interests. The Authority determined that incompatibility as specified in Section 2 of the law did not exist: specifically, it held that RAI’s activities are not primarily linked to the functions of the Ministry of Culture. The Authority reached this conclusion after a comparative analysis of the functions and tasks assigned to the Ministry and to RAI.
The Authority had launched the investigation on 25 May last because the appointment of ex-Minister Urbani to RAI’s Board had taken place before 12 months had elapsed from the date of his resignation from the government post.
Rome, 13 July 2005