The Impact of the International Legal Framework, in Particular the WTO and UNESCO, on the Pursuit of Cultural Diversity Objectives Online

This is a brief contribution that analyzes the impact of the existing international legal framework, in particular that of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and of the United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on the policy space that the European Union (EU) and its Member States have for the pursuit of cultural objectives. The paper contemplates an expansion of the EU cultural policy measures into online media services, as prescribed by the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), and matches this with the existent policy space and its potential future limitations. The paper closes with a critique on the lack of innovation in the domain of EU cultural policy for online audiovisual media, especially as the causal link between displayed EU content and actually viewed EU content deteriorates under the conditions of the digital networked environment.