Analyzing national practices after European State aid control: are multi-stakeholder negotiations beneficial for public service broadcasting?

This article analyses the increasing emphasis on a multi-stakeholder approach in public service policy-making. The ongoing trend towards multi-stakeholder negotiations of public service broadcasting policies is being reinforced by the European Commission. In particular, it has pointed at the necessity of 'third parties' being involved in procedures, allowing public broadcasting organizations to expand activities to new media markets. Question at the core of this article is twofold. Firstly, what type of multi-stakeholder approach has been advocated for by the Commission? Secondly, are multi-stakeholder approaches, implemented by Member States after an encounter with the Commission, adding to more democratic (understood as more inclusive) decision-making on public service broadcasting or, rather, giving an additional forum for private sector interests? Evidence derives from two case studies on the Netherlands and Flanders, where some form of ex ante evaluation has been developed and a multi-stakeholder consultation has been set-up in preperation of management contract renewals. The article argues that current attempts to move towards a formal multi-stakeholder approach in developing public broadcasting policies fail to meet essential aspects of deliberative democracy as they have been created in response to market pressures and rarely set out from public service broadcasting as a democratic policy project. It furthermore argues that multi-stakeholder consultations tend to over-focus on market questions relating to the future of public service broadcasting and are more inclusive when following a structured instead of open procedure.