European Union, Media Policy

The European Union (EU), or the European Community (EC), has long been active in the field of the media. Whether these activities can be called media policy in the sense of a systematic regulation is at least open for discussion. However, the many-fold actions have a major impact on media regulation in the EU Member States and by now even seem to have forced them onto the defensive in this regard. The increasing relevance of the media in European politics is also reflected by the fact that, since 2004, the Commission has had its own Commissioner for Information Society and Media (Viviane Reding from Luxembourg).

Media-related activities started around 1980 and were at first mainly initiated by the European Parliament (EP). The first EP election (1979) ...