The independence of public audiovisual is guaranteed by the Constitution, estimates a report of the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs, while the reform will be studied from July 21.
by
The independence of public audiovisual is guaranteed by the Constitutional Council and follows from the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights of 1789. While the abolition of the contribution to public audiovisual (CAP) will be Studied from Thursday, July 21 at the National Assembly, as part of the amending finance bill, this is the common thread of the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs made public the July 13. The two administrations were commissioned by Jean Castex in October 2021.
The ex-Prime Minister had asked them to study, as part of the end of the housing tax to which she is backed, a reform of this tax, which brings in 3.1 billion euros per An and which finances France Télévisions, Radio France, Arte, France Médias Monde and the National Audiovisual Institute. The announcement by Emmanuel Macron, in March, of the abolition of this levy of 138 euros per year and per household forced them to redirect their work in order to assess the risks of this reform of public television and radio financing .
“volatility of funding”
According to the administration, the Constitutional Council could simply “censor” a measure which amounts to replacing “a resource dedicated by financing by the state budget”. Because, recall civil servants, “the principle of independence of public audiovisual is protected, including in its financial dimension”, both in France and in Europe, where texts give public media “vital importance for democracy “.
Now, the outright suppression of this affected tax could lead to “volatility of funding, where the CAP was a stable base”. With the key, the “risk of attrition” of budgets, as demonstrated by certain examples abroad. Spain and the Netherlands, which made this choice a long time ago, “are characterized by a lower public audiovisual”. Wednesday, July 13, the president of France Télévisions, Delphine Ernotte, interviewed by the deputies alongside the other owners of the public audiovisual, specified that in Spain, the budget of the public media had “dropped by 20 %”.
Another risk, budgeting could also push them to use more advertising. Their image could also suffer abroad, where they could “be perceived as [state media”. Finally, their editorial independence would also be threatened, any critical program that can potentially be sanctioned by a budget cut. The risk of displeasure would then result in “self -censorship”.
You have 46.2% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.