Mr President, in 1997 the process by which fixed and mobile telephony and television and the Internet were increasingly coming together was known by the buzz word 'convergence'. The Commission adopted a much heralded Green Paper on this subject which promised a brave new world of horizontal regulation across platforms. The reality was much more prosaic. Convergence did not happen quite to the extent predicted and the Commission confined itself largely to revising the telecommunications regulation package to take account of new technology. Since that time, however, we have witnessed a wave of mergers and take-overs in the media with the emergence of vast conglomerates such as AOL Time Warner, CBS, Viacom and Vivendi Universal. Yet the Commission has not explored the idea of cross-media ownership and media concentration in any detail since its 1994 follow-up to the Green Paper on pluralism and media concentration. The Commission's silence on such an important issue seems particularly strange because the European Parliament has been calling for a directive on a level playing field and media pluralism since the 1990s. I recognise that regulating the media is a highly sensitive issue. The media is not like any other industry as it lies at the heart of our culture, our way of life. A diverse and pluralistic media is fundamental to democracy, freedom and cultural diversity. But in view of the trend towards media concentration, towards the dominance of certain media conglomerates, my group believes it is high time that we come back to this issue. What are the principles which should underlie our approach? First of all we must recognise that a thriving media is the hallmark of a free society. If control of the media becomes too narrowly restricted in the hands of a small number of people this poses a danger for democracy. The media needs to be sufficiently diverse for all important points of view in society to be effectively presented. Otherwise there is a danger that dominant media players can restrict access to information and thereby move public opinion. Avoiding media concentration is also important to our economy. Some have argued that with the explosion of different types of media, including digital, satellite and cable television, as well as the Internet, monopolistic control is impossible. However, many of these different channels of communication are now controlled by the same media conglomerates, which can thereby cross-promote these services and provide incentives or pressure advertisers to buy space or air time in other media they control. Last but not least, media concentration has implications for our cultural diversity. A Europe in which the media is dominated by a few major players risks being one in which certain regions, cultures and minority groups are granted less access to the media. A diverse media is likely to result in more home-grown original content, whereas large media groups may not resist the temptation to fill their air time with cheap imported programmes and repeats. For the Group there is a clear case to look again at this issue. My questions to the Commission today are: what action does the Commission propose to take? If the Commissioner takes the view, as I suspect he may, that there is no legal basis for action, I would remind him of the articles of the Treaty governing the single market. I would remind him too that Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees media pluralism and if that Charter is integrated into a new constitutional treaty, as Liberal Democrats hope it will be, would that not provide a necessary legal base for action? Will the Commission undertake to bring forward a White Paper updating its 1994 communication in the light of technological change and developments in the industry? It seems to me that we cannot ignore the dangers that media concentration poses to our society. The power of media ownership now frequently extends across national borders. Given that a free and diverse media is essential to our continent's democracy, prosperity and cultural vitality, it is high time that politicians face up to their responsibilities and return to this issue. (Applause)

Political group: ELDR