Follow the Money: The Podcast The EU's lost battle over media power
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Feb 18, 2026 Investigative digging into how secret lobbying and a high-level letter derailed an EU plan to limit media concentration. A look at a 1990s proposal that would have capped market shares and eased cross-border rules. Traces how political intervention shaped media landscapes in Central and Eastern Europe and why ownership battles still matter today.
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Near-Miss EU Media Ownership Rule
- The EU almost created a media-ownership directive in the 1990s to cap market shares across TV, radio and print.
- That proposal aimed to ease cross-border media business while preventing dangerous concentration of power.
Kohl's Fax That Changed The Debate
- A 1997 fax from German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to Commission President Jacques Santer warned against EU meddling in national media regulation.
- That direct intervention significantly slowed and ultimately derailed the directive's progress.
Germany's Outsized Soft Power
- Helmut Kohl's political weight gave him leverage over the Commission because Germany's stance shaped other member states' positions.
- That soft power and voting influence made the Commission wary of pursuing the directive further.