The idea had germinated in the mind of Gérald Darmanin, in 2019, when he was Minister of Public Accounts. Before being formulated by Emmanuel Macron, during his last presidential campaign. The government’s desire to abolish the audiovisual license fee is one of the measures to be examined in the National Assembly, from Thursday July 21, in the amending finance bill. Presented by the executive as a gain in purchasing power, the measure raises serious concerns about the guarantee of independence of the media concerned.
Faced with these fears, the minister in charge of public accounts, Gabriel Attal, wanted to be reassuring, by providing several “guarantees”, Tuesday July 19, on Franceinfo. As a resource track, he said to himself “ready to watch” et “probably to give a favorable opinion” to amendments tabled by the majority proposing to allocate ” a fraction “ VAT, for an amount of approximately 3.7 billion euros, to the financing of public broadcasting, replacing the license fee. Among these amendments, one of them was notably tabled by the leader of the Macronist deputies, Aurore Bergé.
“The subsidy to public audiovisual companies will be paid in one go from the start of the year”, also promised Mr. Attal, in order to avoid any risk of regulation during the year. Before guaranteeing a ” visibility “ on the budget for the coming years. A way for the minister to try to ” to reassure “ the Constitutional Council, which could challenge the text, following the publication of a report indicating a risk of a loss of independence of the public media if the audiovisual budget had to be voted each year by the Parliament.
“Guardianship”
The end of the fee – this contribution paid by households that own a television set, amounting to 138 euros in mainland France – will lead to a shortfall of more than 3 billion euros. Either the bulk of the financing of public broadcasters, which the State promises to compensate, in a budget “multi-year”. An option denounced by public audiovisual professionals, who fear losing their independence. But also by the left opposition.
“There is a real risk on the financing of public broadcasting”denounces the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, who is worried about a “guardianship” progressive companies like France Télévisions (France 2, France 3…), Radio France (France Inter, Franceinfo…) or Arte. “When you tell someone that you are putting a leash on them, even if you promise them that you will not shoot them, mistrust is in order”, adds the deputy of Seine-et-Marne, who belongs to the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes). In his eyes, the reform wanted by Mr. Macron risks establishing “dependency” with political power, potentially harmful to the editorial freedom of public service media. “At the beginning, the government always promises to behave well, being full of good intentions. But, in the long term, it is dangerous »judge Mr. Faure.
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