29.7.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 19375 COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2000/52/EC of 26 July 2000 amending Directive 80/723/EEC on the transparency of financial relations between Member States and public undertakings THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 86(3) thereof, Whereas: 1) () ) 0] 0] Commission Directive 80/723/EEC ('), as last amended by Directive 93/84/EEC (?), requires Member States to ensure that financial relations between public authorities and public undertakings are transparent. Directive 80/ 723[EEC requires certain financial information to be retained by Member States and supplied to the Commis- sion when requested, while other information has to be supplied in the form of annual reports. Various sectors of the economy which were character- ised in the past by the existence of national, regional or local monopolies have been or are being opened partly or fully to competition in application of the Treaty or by rules adopted by the Member States and the Community. This process has highlighted the impor- tance of ensuring that the rules on competition contained in the Treaty are fairly and effectively applied in these sectors, in particular that there is no abuse of a dominant position within the meaning of Article 82 of the Treaty, and no State aid within the meaning of Article 87 of the Treaty unless it is compatible with the common market, without prejudice to the possible application of Article 86(2) of the Treaty. In such sectors Member States often grant special or exclusive rights to particular undertakings, or make payments or give some other kind of compensation to particular undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest. These undertak- ings are often also in competition with other undertak- ings. According to Article 86(2) and (3) of the Treaty it is, in principle, for the Member States to entrust certain undertakings with the operation of services of general economic interest that they define, the Commission being responsible for ensuring the proper application of the provisions of that Article. Article 86(1) of the Treaty requires that, in the case of public undertakings and undertakings to which Member States grant special or exclusive rights, Member States must neither enact nor maintain in force any measure contrary to the rules contained in the Treaty. Article 86(2) of the Treaty applies to undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest. Article 86(3) of the Treaty requires the Commis- L 195, 29.7.1980, p. 35. L 254, 12.10.1993, p. 16. ) sion to ensure the application of the provisions of Article 86 and to address appropriate directives or deci- sions to Member States. The interpretative provisions annexed to the Treaty by the Protocol on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States state that the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community shall be without prejudice to the compet- ence of the Member States to provide for the funding of public service broadcasting in so far as such funding is granted to broadcasting organisations for the fulfilment of the public service remit conferred, defined and orga- nised by each Member State, and in so far as such funding does not affect trading conditions and competition in the Community to an extent which would be contrary to the common interest, while the realisation of the remit of that public service shall be taken into account. In order to ensure the application of the provisions of Article 86 of the Treaty the Commis- sion must have the necessary information. This entails defining the conditions for achieving transparency. Complex situations linked to the diverse forms of public and private undertakings granted special or exclusive rights or entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest as well as the range of activi- ties that might be carried on by a single undertaking and the different degrees of market liberalisation in the various Member States could complicate application of the competition rules, and particularly Article 86 of the Treaty. It is therefore necessary for Member States and the Commission to have detailed data about the internal financial and organisational structure of such undertak- ings, in particular separate and reliable accounts relating to different activities carried on by the same under- taking. Such information is not always available or is not always sufficiently detailed or reliable. Such accounts should show the distinction between different activities, the costs and revenues associated with each activity and the methods of cost and revenue assignment and allocation. Such separate accounts should be available in relation to, on the one hand, products or services in respect of which the Member State has granted a special or exclusive right or entrusted the undertaking with the operation of a service of general economic interest, as well as, on the other hand, for each other product or service in respect of which the undertaking is active. The obligation of separation of accounts should not apply to undertakings whose activi- ties are limited to the provision of services of general economic interest and which do not operate activities outside the scope of these services of general economic