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The Cultural Facet of the EU Media Policy: Matching Rhetoric to Reality?

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The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy

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Abstract

The media sector is a vector for the expression of cultural values and ideals, positioned on the cusp between the economy and the cultural sphere. Since 1974, when the then European Court of Justice (now the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)) clarified that the transmission of television signals fell within the scope of the treaty on the Establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC),1 thinking has evolved considerably, and the role of the EU in the field of the media has been enriched with substantial non-economic elements. In the early 2000s, EU action addressing the media industry was conceptualized as aiming at ‘promoting the development of the audiovisual sector in the Union, notably through the completion of the internal market’ while ‘supporting paramount objectives of general interest, such as cultural and linguistic diversity’ among others (European Commission, 2003). More recently, the 2010 Digital Agenda for Europe, designed to deliver sustainable economic and social benefits from a digital single market, affirmed that the digital media increase opportunities for a wider distribution of cultural and creative content (European Commission, 2010a).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, Athens, Greece

    Evangelia Psychogiopoulou (Research Fellow (PhD); Legal Officer)

  2. Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Athens, Greece

    Evangelia Psychogiopoulou (Research Fellow (PhD); Legal Officer)

Authors
  1. Evangelia Psychogiopoulou
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

    Karen Donders , Caroline Pauwels  & Jan Loisen ,  & 

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© 2014 Evangelia Psychogiopoulou

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Psychogiopoulou, E. (2014). The Cultural Facet of the EU Media Policy: Matching Rhetoric to Reality?. In: Donders, K., Pauwels, C., Loisen, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of European Media Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032195_11

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