France

[FR] New Composition for the French CSA

IRIS 2019-4:1/17

Elena Sotirova

European Platform of Regulatory Authorities

Following the proposal by the French President Emmanuel Macron and the endorsement by the National Assembly and the Senate, Roch-Olivier Maistre was appointed as President of the French “Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel” (CSA) for a six-year mandate, as of 4 February 2019. He replaces Olivier Schrameck, whose term came to an end on 23 January 2019.

Roch-Olivier Maistre was, inter alia, an Adviser to the Office of the Minister of Culture and Communication, an Adviser for Education, Culture and Communication to the French President, President of the Regulatory Authority for Press Distribution (Autorité de régulation de la distribution de la presse), a member of the Financial Commission for Agence France Presse, and most recently, President of the Chamber and General Rapporteur at the French Court of Auditors (Cour des comptes).

Furthermore, two new members were appointed at the CSA, also with a six-year mandate: Michèle Léridon, who is a journalist and a former Director of Information for “Agence France Presse”, succeeds Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette. She was designated by the National Assembly. Hervé Godechot, the former Chief Editor for France Télévisions, replaces Memona Hintermann-Afféjee. He was designated by the Senate.

The other current members of the French CSA are: Nicolas Curien, designated by the Senate in 2015; Carole Bienaimé Besse, designated by the Senate in 2017; Nathalie Sonnac, designated by the National Assembly in 2015; and Jean-François Mary, designated by the National Assembly in 2017.

The deliberations of the Board of the CSA are prepared within the framework of six permanent thematic working groups. Each board member chairs one of these groups and acts as the vice-chair of a second group.

Under the chairmanship of Roch-Olivier Maistre, the CSA Board agreed on a new distribution and on a reduction in the number of working groups from eight to six. The six permanent working groups were inspired by the Council's primary missions and will now structure its activity. The aim of this more compact organisation is to enable greater responsiveness to regulatory developments and to better embrace cross-cutting themes such as sports, Europe, and the French overseas departments. Specific working groups may also be set up if the importance of the subject requires it.