ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the changes in the overall political and regulatory framework towards the creation of a European Information and Knowledge society. It focuses on the European Union (EU) as a Principal political driving force behind the transformations the Information and Communication Technologies sector went through from the 1980s onwards, encompassing both the audiovisual and telecommunications sector. The chapter provides the actors involved in policy-making at EU level, the rationale behind their actions and the means they have to implement an overall policy framework. The process of completing the Single European market and liberalising protected sectors such as telecoms or broadcasting has been anything but even or uniform, whether evaluated across the last two decades or comparing the relevant sectors. In the meanwhile, the Commission had begun to shift its focus from 'old' telecommunications policies to broader questions of regulation of Information and Communication Technologies.