Considers the role that constitutional guarantees of free speech can play in shaping media regulation, with particular reference to the UK, Italy and France.

This book explores the relationship between European Union law, culture, and identity. Community trade and competition rules have certainly affected many mundane, though highly formative, aspects of our day-to-day lives: when we shop, what we drink, even which football matches we watch on television. But Community law is not merely a vehicle for challenging established national rules which have a cultural dimension: Article 151 of the EC Treaty, which came into force in 1993, empowers the Community to 'contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States', whilst at the same time bringing the 'common cultural heritage to the fore'. This book explores some of the challenges facing the European Union in developing convincing and coherent policies in the cultural domain. These challenges stem not only from the Union's fragmented institutional structure and Member State sensitivities but also from the uncertainty which surrounds the very meaning of the term 'culture' itself. The wide-ranging contributions illustrate how cultural issues can be seen to permeate all aspects of European Union law, by focussing on areas as diverse as international trade and aid, education, sport, language use, and the mass media.

This article examines the origins of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, why the initiative is considered 'modern' and its potential influence on media law reform in other countries.

This article considers Community action in the cultural field and the growing emphais on cultural policy as a tool to promote European citizenship and European integration.

An evaluation of European Community and UK listed event legislation

Considers the impact of Community state aid rules on the funding of public service broadcasting in Member States

Considers the impact of the child protection provisions in the EU Television Without Frontiers Directive on the broadcasting regimes of EU Member States

Considers the impact of European Community Law on the regulation of public service broadcasting in the Member States, with special reference to competition law.

Assesses the impact of Article 10(1)(3) of the ECHR on domestic broadcasting systems. The article also considers the continuing legitimacy of public broadcasting monopolies in the light of the European Court of Human Rights case law.

Examines EU engagement with culture and the culture industries. The paper considers both the relevance of EU internal market and competition law for the field and the development of a distinct EU policy focusing on cultural diversity and cultural exchange.

Considers the gradual evolution of remedies for breach of EC law by the ECJ and the impact of Community law on domestic remedial rules

This initial Mediadem policy brief explores the legal, economic, political and professional factors that can constrain editorial and journalistic freedom. It then identifies three lines of policy action apt to support the maintenance and development of independent media in the future.

The challenge in relation to a media transparency proposal is to establish a convincing legal and factual basis for European intervention. As an initial contribution to this debate, the present report considers, firstly, the existing regulatory framework at both the Council of Europe and the EU levels and, secondly, whether the EU has competence to propose a measure in this field. The report identifies two main legislative bases for action: the Internal Market and Citizenship. In relation to both of these heads it will be necessary to establish that action is required at the EU, as opposed to Member State, level. In relation to the Internal Market head, it will be necessary to show that there are concrete barriers to the realisation of the Internal Market, which legislation of this type would address. The authors also consider the role that the Agency for Fundamental Rights could play in collating information and stimulating debate on media transparency. They conclude by making several recommendations for further research and possible courses of action that may help to put this issue on the political agenda and, ultimately, lead to an improvement in media transparency across Europe.

The paper conceptualises media policy in an increasingly converged and integrated media environment, and discusses its relationship to democracy, as well as its nature, scope, making and implementation. The report further explores the concept of media freedom and independence, which is identified as a distinct area for the study of media policy, and examines present practice and potential of regulation in the field.

This report, part of a larger study into 14 European countries, the EU and the Council of Europe, discusses the media landscape in the UK, explores the main regulatory instruments used to govern the media, and assesses the implications of the policies conducted for democratic politics.

This article considers the fate of the ‘country of origin principle’ in the Commission’s 2004 proposal for a services directive. It argues that although all references to this principle were removed from the final version of the Services Directive, it lives on under a new name ‘freedom to provide services’. The European Parliament was ultimately not prepared to amend this aspect of the Commission’s proposal in the radical way that Evelyne Gebhardt, rapporteur for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, advocated. Instead, the concerns voiced by the European Parliament over the deregulatory forces potentially unleashed by operation of the country of origin principle were addressed through the wholesale exclusion of a range of sectors and activities from the scope of the Directive. Questions regarding the legality of the particular form of negative integration created by the Services Directive remain: in particular, the suitability of Article 47.2 EC as a legal base for the Directive and the compatibility of the ‘freedom to provide services’ principle with Articles 12 and 50.2 of the EC Treaty.