A study of measures of co-regulation (i.e. when state regulation is accompanied by private sector regulation) in the field of the mass media was recently presented in Brussels. According to the Commission, the “traditional regulations have difficulty in keeping pace with the rapidity of technological, economic and social change and of the decentralization of information”. The document in question favourably analyses the possible combination of measures of co-regulation and self-regulation of the information sector. It argues that the combination of these measures represents the best solution to “better regulate” the sector and at least permit the full implementation of the necessary minimum standards. The study, conducted by the Hans-Bredow Institute for Research on the Media at the University of Hamburg, emphasises that the shift of public regulation to a mixed regime or self-discipline presupposes, on the one hand, the State’s introduction of a system of incentives and, on the other, the presence of adequate and proportionate sanctions. In the European Union, a system of co-regulation is now in force in the sectors of the protection of minors and advertising.
