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New Commission pledges "improved co-operation" with media industry

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Published 19 November 2004 - Updated 29 January 2010
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internet media concentration media pluralism medias
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An innovation following Viviane Reding's appointment as 'co-ordinator for relations with the media' will be the creation of a 'one-stop-shop' for the press as an industry. The rise of the internet could provide a case for EU action due to cross-border implications.

Viviane Reding, the new commissioner for audiovisual policy and the information society in the Barroso team, has pledged to improve co-operation with the media industry. 

In a speech on 5 November at the Congress of the European Newspaper Publishers' Association (ENPA), Reding said Commission President Barroso intends to give the issue "even more attention" than the outgoing Prodi team. 

Under this "new partnership", Reding is to be appointed "co-ordinator for relations with the media industry". "This is the first time that this kind of one-stop-shop for the media industry would be created within the Commission," Reding said.

Her role would involve working closely with other Commissioners (including competition, internal market and consumer protection) to make sure that "all aspects of the legislative proposals or EU decisions which could affect the media are properly considered".

But she warned that the new partnership should not be "a one-way street". "In my view, it also implies thinking, for example, about ways of increasing coverage of European issues in the media".

Reding's co-ordination role would involve three aspects:

  • An  early warning system consisting of more systematic consultations between Commission departments and with the media industry (a contact point for the media sector in the new DG Information Society, Media and Audiovisual Policy would be created and correspondents in commissioners' cabinets with responsibility for 'media affairs' could be introduced).
  • Monitoring economic and social developments in the media sector.
  • Making  new proposals to "help the media to become more competitive" and make "full use of the opportunities offered by the single market" (VAT is cited as a possible issue here).

However, she emphasised that 'soft laws' such as co- or self-regulatory measures would be the Commission's preferred instrument. As legislative measures on media concentration fall under member states' responsibilities, EU competition law can only invoked to ensure market access for new entrants, Reding explained. "It is difficult to find a legal basis for legislative action on media ownership at the EU level," Reding said.

Positions: 

The  European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) is generally "encouraged" by the Commission's initiative to listen to issues raised by the media. It hopes the "one-stop-shop" system will help the Commission better understand its issues and the role newspapers play in society, which in its views, require a specific approach from policy-makers.

ENPA calls for the notion of  'freedom of the press' to be included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights but says this freedom will only be effective if publishers can rely on their national law in the event of cross-border disputes. ENPA also calls on all European initiatives concerning media concentration issues "to take account of the specificity of the written press". "It will be impossible to ignore them in any liberalisation of inter-media ownership, which is inevitable since the Information Society will be based on convergence between the different media," ENPA argues.

The  European Publishers Council (EPC) believes that a specific directive on media pluralism is against their long term interests and the interests of a flourishing European media industry. According to the EPC, the media industry would be better served by a strong and simple competition policy.

The  International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) fears there is an "increasing perception that journalism is failing to carry out its watchdog role in society because of the vested interests that drive the media business". The IFJ says the concentration process "has paralysed policy makers" and calls for "concrete actions to confront the challenge of corporate power in mass media". The IFJ supports what it calls the "information revolution" brought about by the internet as "an opportunity to renew and reinvigorate the structures of democracy, by providing easier access to information, more efficient public services, and increased public participation in decision-making."

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Background: 

Up until now, European policy in the media sector has focused on the audiovisual sector because of its cross-border implications. However, this situation could well change to involve the print sector as newspapers are increasingly involved in cross-border activities due to the growing success of their internet sites.

For a number of years, newspapers have suffered from increased competition from internet news services (free or subscription-based), free-of-charge tabloids and a drift towards economic concentration. 

The issues of concentration and freedom of information in particular were raised several times at EU level by the  European Parliament and publishers, but the scope for action is limited as legislative measures fall in the hands of national governments. At the Parliament's request, the European Institute for the Media in Düsseldorf and Paris has recently submitted an  in-depth report on the situation concerning media ownership and pluralism in the 25 EU member states.

Within the Commission, there is a history of animated debates between commissioners and directors general in charge of competition and media, reflecting the importance of this sector for national politicians.

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