Pluralism and Media Concentration Policy in the European Union

Abstract

In December 1992, the European Commission published its Green Paper “Pluralism and Media Concentration in the Internal Market: an assessment of the need for Community action” (COM (92) 480 final). This was the outcome of several requests on behalf of the European Parliament and some of the interests concerned. The purpose of the Green Paper was to assess the need for action at Community level in the light of the disparities between national rules on media ownership and consider potential options. By adopting the Green Paper, the Commission sought to provide a basis for discussion and receive opinions of all interested parties — the European Parliament, competent national authorities, European organisations representing television and radio broadcasters, publishers, journalists, audio-visual creative artists and producers, satellite and cable distributors and advertisers. At the same time, it sought to stress the importance which it attaches to preserving pluralism in the frontier-free area (i.e. the Internal Market). In the Commission's view, the freedoms of the Internal Market cannot be put into practice at the expense of pluralism; instead, their implementation must help to strengthen that market through the opportunities which it gives both to citizens and the media. This paper sets out to examine the European Union policy on media concentrations prior to and after the publication of the 1992 Green Paper. It is divided into five parts. Focused working definitions of the terms pluralism and diversity are firstly provided. An historical background of the European media pluralism and competition/concentration policies is then presented, followed by an outline of the main points of the Commission's Green Paper. The interested parties' reaction PETROS IOSIFIDES