Measures should be focused on risk capital market failure.

»Some form of market failure must lie at the heart of any concept of public service broadcasting.

The Commission believes that these factors can cause a market failure which would justify State aid.

Indeed, the Commission believes that there is no general risk capital market failure in the Community(27).

A market failure can be defined as a situation in which economic efficiency is not achieved owing to imperfections in the market mechanism.

Where it is recognised that there is a market failure, the Commission will examine whether any State aid measure is proportionate to the presumed market failure it is devised to meet, and will seek to ensure that any distortion is minimised.

The fact that requests for finance, both debt and equity, have been turned down is not in itself an indication of market failure.

This is because for small transactions the argument that market failure exists through high transaction costs is more persuasive.

The externalities involved in training and research and development activity result in a market failure which justifies State aid in those areas.

The Commission will require provision of evidence of market failure where the ceilings for transaction sizes set out in paragraph VI.5 are exceeded.

The fact that owing to the existence of a market failure no investors would otherwise make such investments, is not of itself sufficient to rebut the presumption of advantage.

The Commission will therefore require provision of evidence of market failure before being prepared to authorise risk capital measures which fall outside the scope of existing rules.

Once market failure has been established, the Commission will examine the following elements in the assessment of a risk capital measure under the State aid provisions of the Treaty:

In exceptional cases of insurance-market failure, the Commission may determine, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 9(2), the appropriate measures for the application of paragraph 1.

The fact that a market failure is recognised does not however alter the aid character of a particular measure, nor the need to assess its compatibility, in particular under the provisions of section VIII.

A market failure may manifest itself either in the inability of the system to produce goods which are wanted (in this case a risk capital market), or by a misallocation of resources, which could be improved in such a way that some consumers would be better off and none worse off.

There are two main sources of market failure relevant to risk capital markets which particularly affect access to capital by SMEs and companies at the early stages of their development and which may justify public intervention:

As economic theory predicts that markets will usually fail in some sense except under conditions of perfect competition, the term market failure is reserved for cases where it is believed that a serious misallocation of resources has occurred.

Provided, however, that the advantage is limited to the amount necessary to overcome the factors which cause market failure, it may be considered compatible with the Treaty, where it meets the principles described in section VIII below, because of its limited effect.

Funds should be large enough and cover a wide enough target population to ensure that their operations are potentially economically viable, with a time scale for investments compatible with the period of the Structural Funds' participation, and focusing on areas of market failure.

Restriction to smaller transaction sizes (that is to say, below EUR 500000 or EUR 750000 in regions qualifying for assistance under Article 87(3)(c) or EUR 1 million in regions qualifying for assistance under Article 87(3)(a)) or to a given level of demonstrated market failure will also be regarded as a positive element.

In effect, the investors are being offered more advantageous terms to compensate them for the factors which cause market failure, and the Commission considers that such compensation must be considered as an advantage, which will constitute aid if the investors are enterprises and if the other conditions described above, notably selectivity, are met.

Pharmacovigilance and, more generally, market surveillance and sanctions in the event of failure to comply with the provisions should be stepped up.

Pharmacovigilance and, more generally, market surveillance and sanctions in the event of failure to comply with the provisions should be stepped up.

In addition, however, the Commission has recognised "a role for public funding of risk capital measures limited to addressing identifiable market failures"(5).

As was stated above (I.7), the Commission has recognised "a role for public funding of risk capital measures limited to addressing identifiable market failures".

»Focusing on a particular segment of the audience in a market of this size, no matter how large that segment may be in principle, would doom every television station to failure.

The duration of the exclusion of the processor from the aid scheme shall be not less than one marketing year and shall be determined by the Member States having regard to the seriousness of the failure.

Failure to provide information on efficiencies will not be taken to imply that the proposed concentration does not create efficiencies or that the rationale for the concentration is to increase market power.

The appropriate institutional arrangements will vary depending on the degree of market integration achieved and the potential failures to be addressed, including in the performance of existing national regulators.

In their opinion, the market is the only criterion for measuring professionalism, because it is the readers and the viewers who sanction obvious failures to provide truthful information, as well as deceptions and low quality writing.

In cases of failure to fulfil a condition attached to the decision declaring a concentration compatible with the common market, the situation rendering the concentration compatible with the common market does not materialise and the concentration, as implemented, is therefore not authorised by the Commission.

Failure to pass the inherent biodegradability test would indicate potential for persistency which may be considered, in general terms, as sufficient to prohibit the placing on the market of such a surfactant except in cases where the criteria set out in Article 6 indicate that there is no justification for refusing a derogation.

Whereas, to achieve this aim, it is necessary to include rules for the monitoring of conservation and resource management measures, structural measures and measures on the common organization of the market, and certain provisions to deal with failure to carry out these measures, which must apply to the entire fisheries sector from the producer to the consumer;

Furthermore, in order to create greater legal certainty it is necessary to define the responsibilities regarding the transparency rules for the Agency's work, to set certain conditions for the marketing of medicinal products authorised by the Community, to confer on the Agency powers to monitor the distribution of medicinal products authorised by the Community and to specify the sanctions and the procedures for implementing them in the event of failure to observe the provisions of this Regulation and the conditions contained in the authorisations granted under the procedures it establishes.

In February 2003, the Securities Market Agencyfocused its attention on media takeovers, particularly the purchase of 25 percent of Delo shares by Pivovarna Laško. As a result, in July 2003 the Agency sent a letter to the Prime Minister drawing his attention to a failure to comply with the provisions of the Mergers and Acquisitions Actrelating to the acquisition of shares via indirect ownership stakes in the media. The Agency, therefore, proposed that the Mass Media Act should be amended in such a way that the Agency would be authorised to revise the related persons' transactions and their ownership links.

Failure to comply in connection with landing and marketing of fishery products

Whereas Liechtenstein and its national regulatory authority shall make all reasonable endeavours to apply the provisions of this Directive, the assessment of their compliance shall take due account of the specific situation of Liechtenstein and the particular circumstances of its very small telecommunications network, its market structure, its limited number of customers, its market potential and the possibility of market failure.

Funds should be large enough and cover a wide enough target population to ensure that their operations are potentially economically viable, with a time scale for investments compatible with the period of the Structural Funds' participation, and focusing on areas of market failure.

Where three multiannual contracts or more at the same time are affected by a failure to deliver the minimum quantity for a marketing year, the producer organisation in question shall be barred from signing further multiannual contracts from the time such failure is noted.

The duration of the prohibition shall be not less than two marketing years and shall be determined by the Member States having regard to the seriousness of the failure.

except in the case of bankruptcy of the processor, failure to deliver a product for one of the marketing years under contract shall be considered a cancellation of the contract in question.

Failure to deliver a product for one of the marketing years under a multiannual contract shall be deemed a cancellation of the contract in question, except in the case of bankruptcy of the processor.

Failure to take definitive measures in the present proceeding would aggravate the already deteriorating situation of the Community industry, marked by losses and a consequential slowdown of investment.