“Exceptional” aid to the press to “compensate” for costs linked to the war in Ukraine

2023-05-04 14:19:21

Press publishing companies affected by the consequences of the war in Ukraine will benefit from “exceptional” aid according to a decree published this Thursday in the Official Journal. The aid should make it possible to “compensate for the increase in the cost of supplying paper to printed publications”, but under certain conditions…

The total aid cannot exceed two million euros

“The total of the aid granted to a group and to the legal persons it controls (…) cannot exceed two million euros”, an amount fixed by an order of the Minister in charge of Communication and the Minister in charge of the Budget , indicates the text. Knowing that the period of eligibility for this financial aid extends from February 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, “within the limits of available credits”.

The government had already announced last December aid of 30 million euros “to the most affected press publishers”. Some of them have moreover been forced to reduce the pagination of their publications and to suppress the publication of special and special issues”, had indicated in a press release the Ministries of Culture, Economy and of Public Accounts, “aware of the threat that this economic crisis poses to certain titles, which are already structurally fragile, and to the supply of information to the public”.

This envelope will be financed in particular by credits intended for the press sector which have not been consumed within the framework of the recovery plan and by five million euros opened in the amending finance law.