EU regulations on telecommunications: The role of subsidiarity and mediation

Authors

  • Panayiota Tsatsou Lecturer, Swansea University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i1.3150

Keywords:

EU, mediation, regulation, subsidiarity, telecommunications

Abstract

This article provides a critical examination of telecommunications regulation in the EU and argues for the need for change along the lines of subsidiarity and mediation. This discussion is particularly timely, as the European Commission is working on a new telecommunications regulatory framework, with the lessons and failures of the past appearing more critical than ever. In this context, the article points to the debate between national heterogeneity and shared vision in the European Information Society and it proposes a shift of the culture and procedures dominating the formal EU regulation. It brings to the fore the potential for the tension between national particularities and EU regulation to be resolved by applying subsidiarity along with existing regulatory tools and mediation via the enforcement of mediating networks and the establishment of institutions that increase the accountability of EU regulation on telecommunications.

Author Biography

Panayiota Tsatsou, Lecturer, Swansea University

Panayiota Tsatsou (BA, MA, MSc, PhD) is a lecturer in Media and Communication. Her doctoral research at the London School of Economics and Political Science explored the role of social culture and policy-making in shaping digital divides and was supported by the Hellenic Republic State Scholarships Foundation. Previously her postgraduate work was supported by the N.A.T.O Science Fellowship Program and other fellowship programmes. She has been involved in European research projects on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), with an emphasis on regulation and policy creation, as well as the role of ordinary people as users and actors in the Information Society. Her research aims to develop innovative and evidence-based solutions to issues arising in the Information Society through the submission of papers and reports to national and EU policy and regulation authorities. Along these lines, she publishes in the areas of digital divides, policy and regulation for the Information Society children and new media, cyberbullying, media and gender. Address: KH 312, Department of Political and Cultural Studies, Swansea University, Swansea, UK. [email: p.tsatsou@swansea.ac.uk; tel: +44 (0) 1792 602987].

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Published

2010-12-17

How to Cite

Tsatsou, P. (2010). EU regulations on telecommunications: The role of subsidiarity and mediation. First Monday, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v16i1.3150

Issue

Volume 16, Number 1 - 3 January 2011

Section

Articles

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