Focal Points of European Media Policy from Inception till Present: Plus ça change?

This chapter examines the focal points of EU media policy as they have historically evolved. It argues that to understand these one needs to take into account the broader context: the changing sectoral political economy and actors' preferences, the overall trajectory of EU integration, the founding principles and institutional characteristics of the EU which constrain certain debates and interventions while favouring others, and developments in individual - particularly bigger - member states. The analysis in the chapter is premised upon the assumption that the decisive cleavage in European integration has been not the territorial more-or-less Europe but rather what kind of Europe - that is, socio-economic tensions over which values, interests and issues should be promoted, and the power to influence such choices. The chapter explains the tensions evident in EU media policy to reconcile the cultural and democratic with the economic and industrial aspects of the media. EU media policy reflects, in part, replicates and reinforces the broader context and forces that guide the European project as a whole