Les concentrations dans le secteur des médias : business as usual ?

The topic of mergers in the audiovisual sector constitutes a category especially suited to the issue chosen for this colloquium: « The Evolution of European Competition Law. Whose Regulation, which Competition ? ». More than in any other domain, there has always been a certain tension in the media sector. This issue leads to the question of which is the most adequate tool to ensure merger control while also guaranteeing both compliance with pluralism and free market competition, and also results in what has now become the classic problem of the relationship between those regulations applicable to the individual sector and competition law. As a result of this duality, two different approaches are possible: a conflictual, competitive approach, entailing a power struggle, or a more complementary method. This article tries to demonstrate that the principle of complementary coexistence is taking the lead and that the Competition Authorities have used all the tools they have to preserve pluralism in the media sector.