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

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.KeywordsEuropean UnionMember StateWorld Trade OrganizationRegulatory InstrumentMedia PluralismThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.