Brussels 'will kill off online BBC'

The BBC's online presence could be under threat from Brussels, as the EC's competition authorities look to scale back the internet offerings of all Europe's public service broadcasters.

The head of the European competition directorate, Nellie Kroes, is believed to be against the use of Europeans' TV licence fees to fund state broadcasters' online content, considering it as an illegal cross subsidy, according to unnamed sources quoted in The Guardian.

The report claims that the competition watchdog will bow to commercial interests and draft new policies which would see the BBC's ability to offer online services severely curtailed.

The decision follows a case in Germany where state-owned broadcasters ZDF and ARD have been accused of receiving unlawful state aid over their internet presence. The EC is expected to rule on the case this week.

Top BBC execs are in talks with their counterparts at the German broadcasters, as well as EU officials, over what the case may mean for them, The Guardian reports.

ARD and ZDF are to prune back their internet services as a defensive measure and only provide internet content relating to their programming schedules.

It's a strategy that the BBC has already pursued. Following a review of its online services by the government, the BBC agreed to axe five of its websites on the grounds they were in direct competition with commercial offerings, in order to head off a more wide-ranging cull by Whitehall.