This book has been prepared by EIM to encourage informed discussion of the issues surrounding the development of a coherent European policy on trans-frontier television broadcasting.

Since 1982 the European Parliament has been urging the European Commission to introduce a discussion paper on the creation of a common market in radio and TV in the Community that meets the new functions of direct broadcasting by satellite (DBS) and cable television.

Addresses a critical analysis of major media policies in the European Union and Council of Europe at the period of profound changes affecting both media environments and use, as well as the logic of media policy-making and reconfiguration of traditional regulatory models. The analytical problem-related approach seems to better reflect a media policy process as an interrelated part of European integration, formation of European citizenship, and exercise of communication rights within the European communicative space. The question of normative expectations is to be compared in this case with media policy rationales, mechanisms of implementation (transposing rules from EU to national levels), and outcomes.

This book explores television's role in fostering European cultural identity and the extent to which European public service broadcasters were able to meet the challenges posed by the introduction of new communication technologies.

This edited collection brings together leading academics in their respective fields to examine the European Union's impact on media and public policy. It provides an analysis of the broader areas of EU policy and links these together to give a greater appreciation of the nuances and scope of EU regulatory initiatives and their impact on the member states. Under a broad public interest perspective, the authors provide an assessment of the success of EU policy in protecting the public interest in the culture industries and respecting certain normative principles and balancing these with market dynamics.