Kremmyda, Peristera; Bernitz, Ulf --- "Comments" [2006] ELECD 306; in Ullrich, Hanns (ed), "The Evolution of European Competition Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: The Evolution of European Competition Law

Editor(s): Ullrich, Hanns

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845427016

Section Title: Comments

Author(s): Kremmyda, Peristera; Bernitz, Ulf

Number of pages: 6

Extract:

Comment
Peristera Kremmyda*

1 PRELIMINARY REMARKS
As Professor Idot, very rightly, makes clear in her chapter, one of the core
issues that we are faced with when discussing `media concentration' is the
question of the balance between sector-specific regulation and competition
law. However, before going ahead to discuss the issue, there are two prelimi-
nary questions that need to be answered. First, is competition law alone a suffi-
cient tool to tackle concentration in the media? In other words, can we
envisage getting rid of sector-specific regulation altogether? And, second,
what kind of sector-specific regulation do we talk about in the context of the
media? The two issues are clearly and closely inter-linked.
The first question can be answered very rapidly. No, competition law alone
is not a sufficient or an adequate tool to tackle concentration in the media. The
reason being that, if concentration in the media is considered a subject worth
discussing in its own right, as opposed to concentration in the automobile or
food industries, it is because the concerns raised are not solely of an economic
nature. The media is, indeed, a multi-billion industry with important repercus-
sions on growth and employment but, at the same time, the structure of owner-
ship in the sector can have, and does have, even more important implications
with regard to the functioning of a democratic society. It is this second func-
tion of the media, which is often discussed in terms of cultural and ...