The European Union and the regulation of media markets

Abstract:

Communications is one of the EU’s most successful policy areas and offers a good opportunity for observation of European governance. Media regulation spans concerns about democratic governance and industrial policy and represents a frontier test for EU policy-making. This book serves to illuminate that debate.

The work is organised over eight chapters. The first covers the progression of EU media policy to date, with commentary upon the limits to regulation encountered by the EU over the years and the proactive stance taken by European institutions enabling them to overcome obstacles to policy-making. Chapter two examines the approach taken by the European Court of Justice to the regulation of the media markets, and its consequent influence on national media policies. The influence of competition law in the shaping of media markets in Europe is the focus of chapter three. The role of the Commission and the European Parliament in media market regulation is explored in chapter four, which highlights the difficulties encountered due to limitations in EU Treaties and the inconsistency of DGs in media market definition. Chapter five deals with the heavy involvement of interest groups in the policy process and the alienation of large parts of industry. Chapter six looks at the impact upon market development of EU policy-making. Chapter seven analyses the effect of the Commission’s initiatives at the national level and the impetus it has provided towards greater regulatory convergence between Member States. Chapter eight draws on the evidence from earlier chapters to present the conclusions of the study. It does so with a note of disappointment that the grandiose plans for good governance introduced in the White Paper on Governance and the European Convention remain largely unfulfilled.

The work will interest scholars, students, policy researchers and policy makers engaged in European studies, European governance and the European media industry.

Alison Harcourt is Research Fellow in European Public Policy at the Centre for European Studies, University of Bradford.