France

[FR] Presentation of Bill on the Independence of the Public Audiovisual Sector

IRIS 2013-6:1/17

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

It was one of François Hollande’s campaign promises. At the meeting of Ministers on 5 June 2013, the Minister for Culture and Communication submitted a draft framework law and draft legislation on the independence of the public audiovisual sector with a view to re-establishing the legislation in force before the reform of the audiovisual sector in 2009 (see IRIS 2009-4/14), by giving the audiovisual regulatory authority (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) once again the power to appoint the CEOs of the public-sector audiovisual companies (France Télévisions, Radio France and Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France). The ordinary bill also reforms the composition of the CSA and the method for appointing its members in order to better ensure its independence. The number of members would be seven instead of nine, and the President of France would appoint only the CEO. The Presidents of the two chambers of Parliament would each appoint three members, in accordance with an opinion voted by a three-fifths majority of their respective committees with responsibility for cultural affairs. The new procedure would therefore call for a broad consensus on the choice of members. Lastly, the CSA’s procedure for sanctions would be brought up to date in order to separate the investigation of cases, in the hands of a rapporteur, from the stage of decision-making by the authority’s members. This would bring the procedure more into line with the requirements of jurisprudence in this field. Based on the model of the competition authority (Autorité de la Concurrence), the bill gives an independent rapporteur the task of instigating proceedings; the rapporteur would be appointed by the Vice-President of the Conseil d’Etat, according to the CSA’s opinion, for a renewable four-year period. The rapporteur would decide totally independently whether the facts brought to his/her attention justified application to the members of the CSA for them to pronounce a sanction.

The Minister also announced a second set of legislative measures for next year, in keeping with the recommendation of the Lescure report (see previous article), including the regulation of audiovisual content broadcast on the Internet, terrestrial broadcasting, the taxation of the resale of digital channels, financing for audiovisual creation, and regulations for advertising on television. The purpose of the first “Audiovisual Assizes” held in Paris on 5 June in conjunction with the CSA was to discuss these plans for reform.