Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction: European Media Policy as a Complex Maze of Actors, Regulatory Instruments and Interests

  • Chapter
The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy

Abstract

Everybody agrees on the mounting relevance of European media policy, also referred to as European audiovisual and media policy. By this we do not mean the individual media policies of the separate member states of the European Union (EU) but rather media policies elaborated at the level of the EU. Admittedly, these policies are developed in close collaboration with the member states. As can be read on the European Commission’s (EC’s) website,1 European media policy is implemented by the EC in four ways. First, there is the harmonization of rules applicable to audiovisual media services. These rules are part of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (a 2007 amended version of the 1989 Television without Frontiers Directive), which is transposed into over 28 national and subnational jurisdictions. Their main objective is to achieve an internal market in audiovisual media services while protecting the interests of minors and enforcing public interest objectives, such as diversity and quality. Technical standardization alsof Alls under these objectives of creating an internal market for communcation and information technologies, infrastructure and devices. Second, there are media-specific programs to stimulate the production and distribution of audiovisual media services. The industrial support program MEDIA, which is designed to add to the professionalization of the film and television industries, is the most important support program. Third, the EC formulates policies on media literacy and media pluralism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Arino, M. (2004). Media Regulation and the Knowledge Economy — Competition Law and Pluralism in European Digital Broadcasting: Addressing the Gaps. Communications and Strategies, 54: 97–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardoel, J. and Vochteloo, M. (2012). Conditional Access for Public Service Broadcasting to New Media Platforms: EU State Aid Policy vis-à-vis Public Service Broadcasting — the Dutch Case, pp. 301–315. In: Just, N. and Puppis, M. (Eds). Trends in Communication Policy Research. Bristol: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, C. (2001). Culture, Policy and Subsidiarity in the European Union: From Symbolic Identity to the Governmentalisation of Culture. Political Geography, 20: 405–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernier, I. (2005). Trade and Culture, pp. 747–793. In: Macrory, P.EJ., Appleton, A.E. and Plummer, M.G. (Eds). The World Trade Organization: Legal, Economic and Political Analysis. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhagwati, J. (1993). Protectionism. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burri, M. (2010). Trade and Culture in International Law: Paths to (Re)conciliation. Journal of World Trade, 44(1): 49–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burri-Nenova, M. (2007). The New Audiovisual Media Services Directive: Television Without Frontiers, Television Without Cultural Diversity. Common Market Law Review, 44(6): 1689–1725.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calabrese, A. and Burgelman, J.-C. (Eds) (1999). Communication, Citizenship, and Social Policy: Re-thinking the Limits of the Welfare State. Lanham (MD): Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakravartty, P. and Sarikakis, K. (2006). Media Policy and Globalization. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Charles, A. (Ed.) (2009). Media in the Enlarged Europe. Politics, Policy and Industry. Bristol and Chicago: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. (1992). Unity in Diversity? The European Single Market in Broadcasting and the Audiovisual, 1982–1992. Journal of Common Market Studies, 32(1): 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. (1994). Broadcasting and Audio-Visual Policy in the Single European Market. London: John Libbey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. and C. Murroni (1996). New Media, New Policies: Media and Communications Strategy for the Future. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craufurd Smith, R. (Ed.) (2004). Culture and European Union Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Craufurd Smith, R. (2007). The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Building a New World Information and Communication Order? International Journal of Communication, 1: 24–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curwen, P. (1999). Television without Frontiers: Can Culture be Harmonized? European Business Review, 99(6): 368–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bens, E. and Hamelink, C. (Eds) (2007). Media between Culture and Commerce. Bristol: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donders, K. (2012). Public Service Media and Policy in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörr, D. (2005). Öffentlich-rechtlicher Rundfunk und die Vorgaben des Europarechts. Media Perspektiven, 7: 333–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dörr, R. and J. Wiesner (2009). Zwischen Wirtschaft und Kultur: 20 Jahre EU-fernsehrichtlinie. Media Perspektiven, 10: 544–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doyle, G. (1998). Regulation of Media Ownership and Pluralism in Europe: Can the European Union Take Us Forward? Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal, 16: 451–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doyle, G. (2007). Undermining Media Diversity: Inaction On Media Concentrations and Pluralism in the EU. European Studies, 24: 135–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyson, K. and P. Humphreys (1988). Broadcasting and New Media Policies in Western Europe. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Falkenberg, K.F. (1995). The Audiovisual Sector, pp. 429–434. In: Bourgeois, J.H.J., Berrod, F. and Gippini Fournier, E. (Eds). The Uruguay Round Results: A European Lawyers’ Perspective. Brussels: European Interuniversity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, D. (2003). Cultural Policy-Making in the Free Trade Era: An Evaluation of the Impact of Current World Trade Organisation Negotiations on Audio-Visual Industries. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 9(3): 285–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman, D. (2005). GATS and the Audiovisual Sector: An Update. Global Media and Communication, 1(1): 124–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graber, C.B. (2004b). Audio-Visual Policy: The Stumbling Block of Trade Liberalisation?, pp. 165–214. In: Geradin, D. and Luff, D. (Eds). The WTO and Global Convergence in Telecommunications and Audio-Visual Services. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gualtieri, F. (2002). La Communauté européenne et l’audiovisuel: des Assises de Paris à la Conférence de Bruxelles (1989–1994). Journal of European Integration History, 8(2): 91–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, M. (2006). A Clash of Cultures? The UNESCO Diversity Convention and International Trade Law. Journal of International Economic Law, 9(3): 515–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, A. (2002). Engineering Europeanization: The Role of the European Institutions in Shaping National Media Regulation. Journal of European Public Policy, 9(5): 736–755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, A. (2005). The European Union and the Regulation of Media Markets. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, A. (2012). ‘Cultural Coalitions’ and International Regulatory Co-operation. Journal of Common Market Studies, 50(5): 709–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, J. and L. Woods (2007). European Broadcasting Law and Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchens, L. (2006). Broadcasting Pluralism and Diversity: A Comparative Study of Policy and Regulation. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, P. (1994). Mass Media and Media Policy in Western Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, P. (2007). The EU, Communications Liberalisation and the Future of Public Service Broadcasting. European Studies, 24: 91–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iosifidis, P. (2011). Global Media and Communication Policy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jakubowicz, K. (2004). A Square Peg in a Round Hole: The EU’s Policy on Public Service Broadcasting, pp. 277–301. In: Bondebjerg, I. and Golding, P. (Eds). European Culture and the Media. Bristol: Intellect Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Just, N. and Puppis, M. (Eds) (2012). Trends in Communication Policy Research: New Theories, Methods and Subjects. Bristol: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katsirea, I. (2008). Public Broadcasting and European Law. A Comparative Examination of Public Service Obligations in Six Member States. Alphen a/d Rijn: Wolters Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Künzler, M. (2012). It’s the Idea, Stupid! How Ideas Challenge Broadcasting Liberalization, pp. 55–74. In: Just, N. and Puppis, M. (Eds). Trends in Communication Policy Research. Bristol: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, D. (1999). Europe’s Digital Revolution. Broadcasting Regulation, the EU and the Nation State. London and New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Loisen, J. (2012). Prospects and Pitfalls of Douglass North’s New Institutional Economics Approach for Global Media Policy Research, pp. 33–54. In: Just, N. and Puppis, M. (Eds). Trends in Communication Policy Research. Bristol: Intellect.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loisen, J and De Ville, F. (2011). The EU-Korea Protocol on Cultural Cooperation: Towards Cultural Diversity or Cultural Deficit? International Journal of Communication, 5: 254–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loisen, J., Pauwels, C. and Donders, K. (2013). Mainstreaming EU Cultural Policies Internally and Externally: Caught between Subsidiarity and Global Subsidiarity?, pp. 65–86. In: Price, M.E., Verhulst, S.G. and Morgan, L. (Eds). Handbook of Media Law and Policy: A Socio-Legal Exploration. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magder, T. (2004). Transnational Media, International Trade and the Idea of Cultural Diversity. Continuum. Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 18(3): 380–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mansell, R. and Raboy, M. (Eds) (2011). The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McQuail, D. and Siune, K. (Eds) (1998). Media Policy: Convergence, Concentration and Commerce. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Media Futures Forum (2012). Report for European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes. Executive Summary. Fast-forward Europe: 8 Solutions to Thrive in the Digital World. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michalis, M. (2007). Governing European Communications. From Unification to Coordination. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moe, H. (2008). Between Supranational Competition and National Culture? Emerging EU Policy and Public Broadcasters’ Online Services, pp. 215–239. In: Bjondeberg, I. and Madsen, P. (Eds). Media, Democracy and European Culture. Bristol: Intellect Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuwirth, R.J. (2006). The Cultural Industries in International Trade Law. Insights from the NAFTA, the WTO and the EU. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikolinakos, N. (2006). EU Competition Law and Regulation in the Converging Telecommunications, Media and IT Sectors. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nitsche, I. (2001). Broadcasting in the European Union: The Role of Public Interest in Competition Analysis. The Hague: TCM Asser Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C. (1995). Cultuur en economie: de spanningsvelden van het communautair audiovisueel beleid. Een onderzoek naar de grenzen en mogelijkheden van een kwalitatief cultuur en communicatiebeleid in een economisch geïntegreerd Europa. Een kritische analyse en prospectieve evaluatie aan de hand van het gevoerde Europees audiovisueel beleid. Brussels, unpublished PhD, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. [Culture and Economy: The Fields of Tensions in the Community’s Audiovisual Policy. An Analysis of the Limits and Possibilities of a Qualitative Culture and Communications Policy in an Economically Integrated Europe]

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C. and Cincera, P. (2001). Concentration and Competition Policies: Towards a Precarious Balance wtihin the Global Audiovisual Order, pp. 49–82. In: D’Haenens, L. and Saeys, F. (Eds). Western Broadcasting at the Dawn of the 21st Century. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C. and De Vinck, S. (2007). Can State Aid in the Film Sector Stand the Proof of EU and WTO Liberalisation Efforts?, pp. 23–43. In: Sarikakis, K. (Ed.). Media and Cultural Policy in the European Union. Amsterdam/NewYork: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C. and Donders, K. (2011). Let’s Get Digital: From Television without Frontiers to the Digital Big Bang: The EU’s Continuous Efforts to Create a Future Proof Internal Media Market, pp. 525–542. In: Mansell, R. and Raboy, M. (Eds). Media and Communications Policies in a Globalised Context. New York: Maxwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C. and Loisen, J. (2003). The WTO and the Audiovisual Sector: Economic Free Trade vs Cultural Horse Trading? European Journal of Communication, 18(3): 291–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C., Kalimo, H., Donders, K. and Van Rompuy, B. (2009). Rethinking European Media and Communications Policy (edited collection). Brussels: VUBPress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, C., Loisen, J. and Donders, K. (2006). Culture Incorporated; or Trade Revisited? How the Position of Different Countries Affects the Outcome of the Debate on Cultural Trade and Diversity, pp. 125–156. In: Obuljen, N. and Smiers, J. (Eds). UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: Making It Work. Zagreb: Insitute for International Relations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Psychogiopoulou, E. (2008). The Integration of Cultural Considerations in EU Law and Policies. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puppis, M. (2008). National Media Regulation in the Era Offree Trade. The Role of Global Media Governance. European Journal of Communication, 23(4): 405–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raboy, M. and Padovani, C. (2010). Mapping Global Media Policy: Concepts, Frameworks, Methods. Journal of Communication, Culture & Critique, 3(2): 150–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regourd, S. (1999). Two Conflicting Notions of Audiovisual Liberalisation, pp. 29–45. In: Scriven, M. and Lecomte, M. (Eds). Television Broadcasting in Contemporary France and Britain. New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richieri Hanania, L. (2012). Cultural Diversity and Regional Trade Agreements — The European Union Experience with Cultural Cooperation Frameworks. Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy, 7(2): 423–456.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sauvé, P. and Steinfatt, K. (2003). Towards Multilateral Rules on Trade and Culture: Protective Regulation or Efficient Protection?, pp. 323–346. In: Sauvé, P. (Ed.). Trade Rules behind Borders: Essays on Services, Investment and the New Trade Agenda. London: Cameron May.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valcke, P. and Stevens, D. (2007). Graduated Regulation of Regulatable Content and the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive: One Small Step for the Industry and One Giant Leap for the Legislator? Telematics and Informatics 24: 285–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Rompuy, B. (2012). Economic Efficiency: The Sole Concern of Modern Antitrust Policy? Non-efficiency Considerations Under Article 101 TFEU. The Hague: Kluwer Law International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefever, K and Van Rompuy, B. (2009). Ensuring Access to Sports Content — 10 Years of EU Intervention: Time to Celebrate? Journal of Media Law 2: 243–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Venturelli, S. (1998). Liberalizing the European Media: Politics, Regulation, and the Public Sphere. Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Voon, T. (2007). Cultural Products and the World Trade Organization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, D. (2002). The European Union Democratic Deficit and the Public Sphere: An Evaluation of EU Media Policy. Amsterdam and Oxford: IOS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waregne, J.-M. (1994). Le GATT et l’audiovisuel. Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP-Centre de recherche et d’information socio-politiques, 1449–1450: 69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, M.C. (2000b). Research Note: The ‘Undeclared War’ Part II. The European Union’s Consultation Process for the New Round of the General Agreement on Trading Services/World Trade Organization on Audiovisual Services. European Journal of Communication, 15(2): 253–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Karen Donders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jan Loisen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Caroline Pauwels
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

    Karen Donders , Caroline Pauwels  & Jan Loisen ,  & 

Copyright information

© 2014 Karen Donders, Jan Loisen and Caroline Pauwels

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Donders, K., Loisen, J., Pauwels, C. (2014). Introduction: European Media Policy as a Complex Maze of Actors, Regulatory Instruments and Interests. In: Donders, K., Pauwels, C., Loisen, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032195_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation