MEP demands media mogul regulation

By Aoife White

Date: 19/05/05

EU competition policy should do more to ensure media pluralism, according to a report from the French Socialist MEP Henri Weber to be discussed in Parliament next week. On Tuesday (24 May) he will ask the European Parliament's culture and education committee to back his call for a regulation to deal with the supervision of the media and respect for pluralism. The committee will vote on the report in June.

Weber's report draws attention to the growing dominance of large firms in the media sector, claiming it poses a risk to cultural diversity and could hurt linguistic and cultural content. He also notes that European producers are not as good as their US rivals in selling television programmes to EU countries which he believes "jeopardises cultural diversity".

Angela Mills-Wade, executive director of the European Publishers' Council said there was no legal basis for additional new laws at the European level. Media pluralism was a question for the market or national governments and any legislation would be "very difficult to construct". Weber had raised several points but failed to suggest any way forward, she said.

Anticipation of a report by French Socialist MEP Henri Weber for the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee regarding a Motion of Resolution on the application of Articles 4 and 5 of the Television without Frontiers Directive. On 24 May 2005. Weber was to ask fellow MEPs on the Committee to back his call for a regulation to deal with the supervision of the media and respect for pluralism.