The development of the Circumvention Principle in the area of broadcasting

Europe's digital revolution. Broadcasting regulation, the EU and the nation state:

Focusing on the increasingly urgent issue of the broadcasting policies of the European Union and its Member States and the challenges posed by digital broadcasting, this book is primarily concerned with the European Union's record in the field of broadcasting regulation, its desire to become a more central actor in the regulation of the converging communications sector and the degree to which broadcasting has witnessed the same degree of Europeanisation. The economic, political and cultural importance of broadcasting has fuelled attempts to develop an EU broadcasting policy, but it also explains the determination of key governments to retain control on a national level. The author, David Levy, explores the particular problem that broadcasting poses for European policy makers. The range of EU regulatory initiatives are examined and set in the context of widely differing national regulatory traditions and policy styles. He explores the latest thinking to emerge from the EU in response to digital broadcasting, including the recent attempt to promote 'regulatory convergence' or a common approach at the EU level to the regulation of telecoms, IT and broadcasting. The author argues that EU-wide approaches should focus on anti-competitive practices rather than on matters of cultural and content regulation.

This book provides an insider's analysis of a particularly complex area of EU and national policy making. It is an up-to-date personal assessment of the impact of digital broadcasting in the UK, France and Germany, and on EU regulatory approaches and will therefore be of interest to students of the EU policy making process as well as those involved in the regulation of the media.