Abstract
Media literacy is very much in the ascendant in European regulatory and policy-making circles at the moment, prompting the suggestion that it has now lost its erstwhile shrinking-violet status in the European audiovisual media sector. The article will commence with a brief exploration of selected theories surrounding media literacy. More precisely, it will canvas the main rationales for promoting media literacy, definitional issues, and the groups centrally implicated in media literacy initiatives – both as target groups and as other stakeholders. The article will then identify, contextualise and scrutinise the key reference points for the promotion of media literacy in the European audiovisual regulatory and policy frameworks. Both the EU and the Council of Europe have adopted a number of legally binding and policy instruments that aim to improve media literacy levels across Europe. Finally, the article will consider the prospects for the future development of media literacy within European regulatory structures.