France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati says the controversial plan to reform the public broadcasting sector will be "completed by the summer". Delayed several times, the proposed reorganisation has previously prompted angry strikes.
The proposed bill provides for the creation of a giant new company called France Médias, with a budget of €4 billion.
The so-called holding company would be made up of four subsidiaries: France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde (FMM) as well as the National Audiovisual Institute (INA).
It was due to be examined by lawmakers in December but was delayed after the fall of former prime minister Michel Barnier's government.
Dati had openly pushed for the bill when she joined the culture ministry. last year and even called for a merger of public broadcasting companies.
The suggestion was met by angry strikes by journalists who slammed the project as "demagogic, ineffective and dangerous".
RFI staff carry on strike over merger of French public media
The project was then suspended for the first time by the dissolution of the National Assembly in June.
Dati, who gave her new year policy speech in Paris on Monday, said it was "essential to have a framework that allows better pooling of resources when it comes to managing investments that can be made jointly".
The idea of a joint holding company appears to be better accepted, both in the National Assembly and within the media concerned.
Prime Minister François Bayrou, in his policy speech on 14 January, also insisted that changes needed to be made to the public media services.
"The reform of public broadcasting, for the common good of the French, must be completed," he said.
Finding a balance
Faced with expected budget cuts in culture and audiovisual sectors, Dati is confident that her ministry will find "a balance...and make the efforts asked of us."
However, in an open letter published on Monday, 15 performing arts organisations and unions accused Dati of "giving up" on them, and called a meeting to discuss their concerns.
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They criticised the minister for having supported a government amendment that would see a total drop of €130 million for cultural projects and a further €80 million taken from the public broadcasting budget, as voted on by senators earlier in January.
A joint committee meeting to find a compromise on the 2025 draft budget is set for Thursday.
In a separate announcement, Dati also indicated that the government would provide a new legal framework based on the results of a long consultative audit on the media sector, carried out by professionals last year.
The group came up with fifteen proposals such as large-scale awareness of disinformation, reinforced protection of journalists' sources, and further strengthening of the independence of the editorial staff.
(with AFP)
