Media Regulatory Authorities And The Challenges Of Cooperation

The current challenges facing National Regulatory Authorities and how cooperation between the various NRAs can strengthen their mission.NRAs are the guardians of freedom of expression and pluralism in broadcast and online media. They perform their duties by interpreting and implementing rules, and balancing interests, as reflected in their regulatory, monitoring, and sanctioning activities. And given their importance, these fundamental roles must be placed in the hands of an institution that bows to no one, neither the government nor private third parties. Only then is it guaranteed that decisions affecting media freedom and pluralism, as the twin pillars of democratic systems based on the rule of law, are made without taking into consideration any spurious interests, and that those affected by such decisions (broadcasters, VOD services, VSPs but also citizens) can trust them. However, as explained in a recent IRIS Special on the independence of media regulatory authorities in Europe,1 de jure independence does not always coincide with de facto independence.The hard truth is that media NRAs have faced unprecedented challenges in recent years, notably due to the complexification of the media ecosystem and the changing nature of regulation.This publication provides a snapshot - in a state of flux - of the various issues at stake in this respect, and is the fruit of intense cooperation between the European Audiovisual Observatory and the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA)