BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive on Wednesday dropped its probe into state aid for Austrian public broadcaster ORF, after the country pledged to bring the assistance into line with the bloc's rules.
"I am satisfied that the commitments offered by Austria will ensure the right balance between the need to ensure high quality public service broadcasting and the need to maintain a level playing field in the sector," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.
EU countries can subsidise their public broadcasters, but only for their general interest mission. Austria's association of commercial television operators has complained that public finances for ORF go beyond that remit.
The European Commission said Austria had agreed to limit ORF's financing to what is strictly necessary to fulfil its public service tasks, organise a public consultation on proposed new media services and to separate ORF's commercial activities from its public service mission. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)