The UK referendum in June 2016 surprised many. The main concern since then has been the uncertain outcome of the Brexit negotiations. But after the initial shock, European cities gradually realized the opportunities the Brexit encompasses as London-based businesses are looking for new European ground outside of the UK. Governments on various levels take actions to attract these businesses to their cities. And while London’s position as European financial capital is currently on everybody’s mind, most policy-makers overlook the position of London as the European media capital.
The Brexit influences London’s media industry and some, but not all, major European cities will benefit from that. So far, Belgium has not taken any significant policy actions. The Brexodus started and time is running out to get a slice of the media industry cake. In this policy paper, Imec-SMIT-VUB researcher Marlen Komorowski, who is currently working on the Media Clusters Brussels project and who analyses media clusters across Europe, provides insights on the Brexit, the media industry and Belgium.
(Photo by Frederick Tubiermont on Unsplash)