Radio France broadcasts music and it is rebroadcast on France Televisions. Public broadcasting workers are striking against the abolition by Emmanuel Macron of the fee. How does this tax function today? It is so important. Here are some reasons why it is so important.
The audiovisual license fee was established in 1933 and is the principal tool to finance public radio and television. French citizens with a TV screen pay a tax of either 138 euros in France or 88 euros abroad. To produce fiction or information, the money is distributed to Radio France and France TV.
However, the removal of the audiovisual license fee could put at risk these media. Many depend on this tax. Julia Cage, media economist, says that the license fee is 82% of France TV revenue, 85% Radio France, and 95% Arte.
This could affect the quality of the content. Information production is costly. This is a good thing. However, we need to provide the resources for public broadcasting in order to produce such high-quality information,” comments the economist. In Spain, the abolition or the payment of the license fee resulted in a drop of 23.5% in the amount that was allocated to RTVE (Spanish Radio and Television). De facto, audiences have declined.
Even more controversial is the Macron-style budgeting. It would not be an “earmarked resource”, but a budget that can change year-to-year and subject to a Parliamentary vote. Julia Cage explains that the license fee is an allocation resource. It has its own budget for public radio broadcasting. This means there are no permanent negotiations between politicians and presidents of France TV and Radio France.
Herve Rony (director SCAM), stated that “there is a risk” that the Parliament would arbitrarily determine to define in a variable manner, or limit, the budget for the public audiovisual industry each year in “la Croix”. We could still see a union leaflet calling to strike on Tuesday, stating that the budget for public broadcasting cannot be determined by the government and is subject to the vagaries in the vote on the annual finances laws.
Julia Cage explains that the problem is that the annual negotiations with politicians could damage journalists’ independence. There are many countries that set milestones to preserve independence in the audiovisual sector, and we in France would take a completely different movement and threaten one of our pillars”, says the researcher. Citing the German situation, where the license fee is collected directly by an entity managed by the public audiovisual industry, the researcher laments.
This tax is however a bit outdated. Julia Cage admits that “royalty isn’t a perfect model.” There are two reasons. It only applies to those who have a TV, and it is now possible to view content on multiple media. According to the economist, it is also unfair because everyone pays the exact same amount regardless of income.
Julia a Cage, a Julia a Cage researcher published a report for Jean-Jaures Foundation on June 3, offering several solutions. The proposal proposes to replace royalty by either a proportional tax on income, a tax at 0.25% on all income, or a progressive levie according to individual income.
The report questioned 11,000 respondents. 34.5% want the fee replaced by a new resource. 20.6% want it to be eliminated and 16% want its maintenance as is.
