We oppose the proposed acquisition of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia by BSkyB, partly owned by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox. The deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition and is not in the public interest.

The deal would pose a critical threat to plurality of ownership, concentrate wealth and power into even fewer hands, and strengthen the position of the already dominant BSkyB here in the UK.

The acquisition would give Sky effective control over two of Europe’s largest pay-TV broadcasters and would create a European pay-TV giant.

As the Financial Times puts it, this has 'the feel of a Murdoch master plan. He may want to unify the European TV companies, then bid for  the rest of BSkyB itself'.

We believe that a free and diverse media is vital for a healthy and open democracy to flourish, both in the UK and across Europe.

We need appropriate remedies to tackle the growing threat posed by media concentration.

We therefore call on the European Commission to investigate the proposed acquisition which will damage media plurality and to block any deal until all public interest issues have been fully addressed.​