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2008-07-16 - Council of State, DIWAN FM Belgique a.s.b.l. c. le Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel de la Communauté française, n. 185.415
Public licensing of Muslim broadcasting programs and cultural diversity
Key facts of the case - the issue at stake was whether the administrative act comparing different Muslim broadcasting projects and indicating the reasons for which the project of the applicant does not receive the permission to edit broadcasting service is lawfully motivated.
Main reasoning of the Court - Following a call for tenders of the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (“CSA” – Superior Council of radio and television) for the assignation of eleven radiofrequencies, one of them – the applicant – which does not receive the licence introduces a very urgently petition for suspension of the execution of the assignation decision (an administrative act) before the Council of State. The applicant maintains that the decision in not lawfully motivated. The Council of State considers the urgency and the diligence of the applicant established. The judges maintain that the administrative act is lawfully motivated: the possible lack of formal motivation of the criticized decisions may be covered by the formal motivation of the other decisions. The second argument of the applicant was that the assignation of only one radiofrequency to the Maghreb or North African community of Brussels constitutes discrimination. The Council of State ruled that the applicant fails to establish the existence of prohibited treatment.