In 1990, the European Commission did not even mention public service broadcasting (PSB) in a 'Communication' on the Community's audio-visual policy (European Commission 1990). Soon afterwards, complaints against aid to PSB (Harrison and Woods 2001) forced the Commission to tackle the issue. The Commission and other Community authorities have since had to devote a great deal of attention to PSB. The ensuing debate, pitting a cultural perspective on the media against an economic one, and the resolution of that debate so far, illuminate wider issues of the evolution and changing foci of media policy in Europe.