National broadcasting and press regulation is undergoing a process of convergence in Europe. This book, newly available in paperback, explains how this process has been shaped by the actions of the European Union (EU) institutions. Alison Harcourt observes that whilst communications is one of the EU's most successful policy areas, European decision-making is eroding the national capacity to regulate for the public interest. European-level efforts to protect public interest goals have been constrained by the European Treaties. The author argues that increased European coordination in public interest regulation could be more conducive to growth and competitiveness than the dismantling of existing national laws. This, however, would require changes to the political composition of the European Union. This book assesses the potential EU media regulation provides for market growth and the protection of media pluralism, the citizen and ultimately democracy itself. These opportunities are presented in the coming decade with the developing European Constitution, EU enlargement, and the implementation and revision of European regulation. -- .

The book addresses representation of the public interest in Internet standard developing organisations (SDOs). Much of the existing literature on Internet governance focuses on international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The literature covering standard developing organisations has to date focused on organisational aspects. This book breaks new ground with investigation of standard development within SDO fora. Case studies centre on standards relating to privacy and security, mobile communications, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and copyright. The book lifts the lid on internet standard setting with detailed insight into a world which, although highly technical, very much affects the way in which citizens live and work on a daily basis. In doing this it adds significantly to the trajectory of research on Internet standards and SDOs that explore the relationship between politics and protocols. The analysis contributes to academic debates on democracy and the internet, global self-regulation and civil society, and international decision-making processes in unstructured environments. The book advances work on the Multiple Streams Framework (MS) by applying it to decision-making in non-state environments, namely SDOs which have long been dominated by private actors. The book is aimed at academic audiences in political science, computer science, communications, and science and technology studies as well as representatives from civil society, the civil service, government, engineers and experts working within SDO fora. It will also be accessible to students at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels.

The Digital Single Market (DSM) 2014-19 was the largest component of the European Union's Single Market programme, comprising numerous Directives, Regulations, and instruments aimed at facilitating cross-border digital services. With one-fifth of service exports stemming from the digital sector, the DSM was vital for the UK, with the EU representing its largest export market. Brexit and the Digital Single Market examines the important historical role of the UK in DSM development, the consequences of Brexit for the UK's digital sector, and future EU and UK policy trajectories. Assessing both vertical sectors and horizontal policies, this book demonstrates how the UK acted as a policy entrepreneur in pushing for a deregulatory framework by exploiting temporal events historically. The current challenges presented by Brexit are discussed in detail, closely observing topics such as the loss of the country of origin principle and freedom of movement, changes to copyright and VAT regimes, complications with cross-border data transfer, administrative procedures, and international taxes on digital products and services. Brexit and the Digital Single Market illuminates how the UK continues to innovate in the digital sector but is constrained by external factors both at EU and global levels. It also considers how EU policy is taking a new direction in its 2020 Digital Strategy programme, which leans towards greater protection of European champions and digital sovereignty, a tightening of its data protection regime, and greater regulatory intervention in digital markets. Timely and unprecedented, Brexit and the Digital Single Market is the first volume to comprehensively cover the implications of Brexit for the EU's DSM. This is an essential read for students and academics in political science and law and those from the civil service and government working within the digital sector.