oa Inbraak in ‘sprookjesland’

Breaking into ‘fairy tale country’. European law and the political battle on commercial television in the Netherlands

As a typical case study that brings to the fore new actors and themes in European integration, this article analyses the battle fought over the introduction of commercial television in the 1980s Netherlands. While technological developments such as satellite broadcasting quickly transformed television broadcasting into a transnational affair, the eventual breakthrough in the deeply entrenched Dutch broadcasting policy was enforced in court rooms rather than in the more classical arenas of national and European policymaking. By taking the road to court, organisations such as advertisement associations opened up a new way of influencing political decision-making, which later would be followed up by new commercial broadcasters such as RTL Véronique and TV10. Such companies benefitted from the activist jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice that since the 1970s had pushed member states in spite of national resistance to foster liberalisation of transnational trade and services.