Michalis - Governing European communications : from unification to coordination

Broader context

U.S. hegemony. Cold War. Conflicts over the need for and character of Western European cooperation for postwar reconstruction. Telecommunications and broadcasting under sovereign control of national monopolies and national governments.

Key actors

National governments (European and non-European). State-owned or controlled national monopolies. Council of Europe, EBU, CEPT.

Governance areas and style: Main characteristics

Intergovernmental (Council of Europe) and professional (EBU/OIRT & CEPT cooperation on cross-border commercial technical and operational issues. No challenge to established national communications order. Consensual style. Communication sectors needs often victim of broader international political and diplomatic imperatives (e.g., Cold War).

Governance instruments

Mostly non-binding recommendations.

Implementation

Voluntary. No sanctions. National governments and administrations enjoyed great latitude.

Relationship among European organizations

No direct formal links. Sectors and policy competence clearly demarcated.

Broader context

International political economic turmoil. Crisis of Keynesianism. Theoretical understandings stressing role of ICT in economic growth. Growing competitive threats from USA and later Japan in high technology, especially computing and data processing (e.g., IBM). Technological disparities and gap discourses. Telecommunications and broadcasting under sovereign control of national monopolies and national governments.

Key actors

National governments (mostly European and U.S.). Individual firms (e.g., national champions, IBM). PTTs and CEPT, Council of Europe, EBU, European Commission, European Court of Justice.

Governance areas and style: Main characteristics

Individual national interventionist industrial policies focusing on computing. Promotion of national capital (national champions). Selective intergovernmental cooperation in high technology (e.g., aerospace, space). Failed attempts at European cross-national groupings in computing. EU pursues broad policy objectives but no support from either governments or industry. Three-pronged strategy: harmonization of European technical standards and administrative rules; broad economic and industrial planning role (including science and technology, and opening up of public procurement); common network planning and standards and common network development (e.g., OSI, Euronet). Emphasis on information technology and on countering IBMs dominance. European external identity. Reactive style.

Governance instruments

National protectionist solutions (e.g., nontariff trade barriers, subsidies, managed industry restructuring). European Commission own initiatives. Competition law (European Court of Justice).

Implementation

No support for European common action. Policies are national.

Relationship among European organizations

No direct formal links. Sectors and policy competence clearly demarcated.

Broader context

Increasing internationalization and competitive threats from USA, Japan and Asian Tigers. Information society: answer to falling productivity and growth. Relaunch of Europe on the basis of the needs of European industrial capital. Neomercantilist vision of European integration. New growth and new trade theories justifying public intervention and emphasizing economies of scale. Digitalization: technological convergence of telecommunications and information technology. U.S. domestic telecommunications liberalization raises alarm in Europe. Gradual entry of private commercial and transnational broadcasters in Europe.

Key actors

European industrialists (ERT). Europe-wide interest groups (e.g., Big 12, ITTF). EU (Commission and Court). Mutually supportive relationship between parts of European Commission and established interests (PTTs/CEPT, public service broadcasters/EBU, major European ICT manufacturers, ailing national champions).

Governance areas and style: Main characteristics

Construction of Europe, inward-looking phase. European-level industrial policy measures: emphasis on big home market and economies of scale. Promotion of transnational European capital (European champions). Sponsored R&D programs (ESPRIT, RACE). Network planning (ISDN, GSM). Defensive standardization (MAC HDTV). Transfrontier television and pursuit of democratic ideals. Pan-European television experiments. European cultural unity and internal identity based on nation-state experience. Mostly reactive style.

Governance instruments

European single market: internal liberalization, active industrial policy and temporary external trade protection (Fortress Europe scenario). Emphasis on technology-push initiatives.

Implementation

Top-down measures and enforcement.

Relationship among European organizations

Mutually supportive.

Broader context

Changing international and sectoral political economy leads to progressive procompetitive restructuring of telecommunications and television markets. Main factors: limitations of Keynesian order, economic liberalization and internationalization, technological change, pressure from Europes trading partnersnotably USAbilaterally and multilaterally within GATT, dissatisfaction of big economic actors with existing monopolistic high-cost national communications order in Europe, rise of neoliberal ideology, international acceptance of trade in services. EU mediates globalizing pressures: reinforcing them in telecommunications, resisting them in audiovisual. End of Cold War. Internal market project: neomercantilist vs. neoliberal vision. Competitiveness industrial policy (against active interventionism). Renewed information society vision as the answer to Europes economic malaise in reaction to U.S. and internet-related developments and technological convergence.

Key actors

Proliberalization coalition in telecommunications: USA, GATT Uruguay Round, parts of European Commission, European Court of Justice, potential market entrants, corporate telecommunications users, procompetition PTOs and national governments. Proliberalization coalition in broadcasting: potential commercial market entrants, advertisers, big electronics manufacturers, publishing interests, content producers, procompetitive governments (European and U.S.), parts of European Commission, European Court of Justice. Industry fora (e.g., Digital Video Broadcasting group).