Comparative Assessment of Legal and (Self-)Regulatory Frameworks for Media in the European Union (Deliverable 3.3)

The study presented in Deliverable 3.3 aims to clarify the extent to which national legal and (self-)regulatory frameworks in EU Member States contribute to securing and strengthening a democratic media system. The results provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the various frameworks with respect to democratic requirements, thereby revealing best practices and shortcomings. The study is based on the assumption that laws, norms, and rules can be understood as “applications of values,” which, in a democratic environment, reflect the underlying principles of democracy, even when they are always necessarily imperfect and changing. It consists of two pillars: first, the values considered fundamental in the European Union, and second, the values that follow a changing understanding of democracy and are primarily reflected in current EU policy. The values to be assigned to the two pillars are discussed in relation to their potential to safeguard the media’s democratic roles