The European Union's communications policy has had mitigated results in addressing issues related to the Information Age. On one hand, deregulation had the positive outcome of building a unified market, with corporations capable of challenging the supremacy of the United States. On the other hand, deregulation has followed the US model and has ignored the European concept of interventionism, which helps safeguard diversity and pluralism that could be threatened by ultraliberalism. National interests and diversity of standpoints constitute a major obstacle for the success of the EU's communication policy. However, one might remain optimistic in view of some of the EU's important actions that have been achieved through cooperation. The strong, self-endowed leadership of the European Commission succeeded in responding to one of the EU's major challenges: overcoming a slow policy-making process that would be particularly inappropriate, considering the fast-paced nature of modern communications.
Bueno de Mesquita , and F. Stokman (1994) European Community Decision Making. London: Yale University Press.
2.
Commission of the European Communities (1983) Interim Report, Realities, and Tendencies in European Television: Perspectives and Options, COM (83) final. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
3.
Commission of the European Communities (1984) Television Without Frontiers, COM (84) 300 final. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
4.
Commission of the European Communities (1987) Towards a Dynamic European Economy: Green Paper on the Development of the Common Market for Telecommunications Services and Equipment, COM(87) 290 final, 30 June. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
5.
Commission of the European Communities (1989) Establishing Advanced Communications in Europe: IBC Strategic Audit 1988, February. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
6.
Commission of the European Communities (1990) Towards Europe-Wide Systems and Services: Green Paper on a Common Approach in the Field of Satellite Communications in the European Community, COM (90) 490. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
7.
Commission of the European Community (1992) Pluralism and Media Concentration in the Internal Market, Commission Green Paper, COM (92) final. Brussels: Commission of the European Community.
8.
Commission of the European Communities (1994) Towards the Personal Communications Environment: Green Paper on a Common Approach to Mobile and Personal Communications in the European Union, COM(94) 145 final. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
9.
Commission of the European Community (1998) International Policy Issues Related to Internet Governance. Communication from the Commission to the Council, Com (1998) 111 final. Brussels: Commission of the European Community.
10.
De Backer, W. (1997) `The European Union and the Internet', paper presented at the University of Ghent Internet Engineering Task Force Conference, Munich, 14 August; available at: www.ispo.cec.be
11.
De Woot, P. (1990) High Technology Europe. Strategic Issues for Global Competitiveness. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.
12.
Europa (1998) `Audiovisual Policy'; available at: www.europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/legis/key_doc/orejcome.htm (accessed November 1999).
13.
Europa (1999) Official documents, June; available at: www.europa.eu.int/comm/off/info_en.htm (accessed November 1999).
14.
European Commission, Directorate-General XIII (1996) The European Union's Telecommunications Policy (CD-ROM). Scotland: Cartermill.
15.
European Communication Council (1997) Exploring the Limits: Europe's Changing Communication Environment. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
16.
Humphreys, P. (1996) Mass Media and Media Policy in Western Europe. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
17.
I*m Europe (1999) `Internet Action Plan', July; available at: http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/iap/decision/en.html (accessed November 1999).
18.
Locksley, G. (1990) The Single European Market and the Information and Communication Technologies. New York: Belhaven Press.
19.
Melody, W. (1991) `The Information Society: The Transnational Economic Context and its Implications', pp. 27-41 in G. Sussman and J.A. Lent (eds) Transnational Communications: Wiring the Third World. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
20.
Musso, P. (1998) `Vers un oligopôle mondial', Le Monde diplomatiqueMarch: 6-7.
21.
Pailler, A. and C. Michel (1998) `Les Mutations techniques au service d'un projet idéologique. Croisade contre le secteur public des telecommunications', Le Monde diplomatiqueMarch: 6-7.
22.
Parenti, M. (1993) Inventing Reality, The Politics of News Media, 2nd edn.New York: St Martin's Press.
23.
Regourd, S. (1998) `Convergence à l'européenne', Le Monde diplomatiqueMarch: 4.
24.
Sandholtz, W. (1992) High-Tech Europe. The Politics of International Cooperation. Berkeley: University of California Press.
25.
Sandholtz, W. (1993) `Institutions and Collective Action. The New Telecommunications in Western Europe', World Politics45 (January): 242-270.
26.
Steinberg, M. (1990) The Technical Challenges and Opportunities of a United Europe. Savage, MD: Barnes and Noble Books.
27.
Venturelli, S. (1998) Liberalizing the European Media. Politics, Regulation, and the Public Sphere. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
28.
Wallace, W. (1983) Less Than a Federation, More Than a Regime: The Community as a Political System. Chichester: Wiley.
29.
Weymouth, A. and B. Lamizet (1996) Markets and Myths: Forces for Change in the Media of Western Europe. London: Longman.
