France is to abolish its €138-a-year TV licence fee in a bid to help ease the cost of living crisis. President Emmanuel Macron had promised to scrap the fee during his election campaign, and the Senate has now backed the plan.
The move comes as the UK considers whether to axe the £159 BBC licence fee. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries earlier this year announced the BBC licence fee will be frozen for the next two years, confirming she wants to find a new funding model before the current deal expires in 2027.
The French licence fee, which was introduced in 1933, has funded public broadcasters including France Télévisions, Radio France, the Franco-German broadcaster Arte, France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI). Public accounts minister Gabriel Attal said in June, "We should be removing taxes that weigh on the French people," but he said the government remained “very attached to our public broadcasters” and would work to ensure they remain independent, reports ,The Telegraph.
The Senate agreed the licence fee was "obsolete" amid the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, and approved supporting public broadcasters using VAT revenues until the end of 2024. Culture minister Rima Abdul Malak said funding would continue until the government devises a “road map” for the sector.
But Laurent Lafon, the centrist chairman of the culture committee, told Le Monde newspaper: "We agreed to abolish the tax, but the question remains as to how we will finance tomorrow’s public broadcasting." Pierre Ouzoulias, a senator with the French communist party, said public broadcasting “is essential to contribute to the mission of independence” of information.
The scrapping of the licence fee is part of a €20 million package of measures to ease the cost of living crisis, which also includes prolonging an existing freeze on energy prices, and raising pensions and social benefits. Once approved by the Senate, the package will be sent back to the National Assembly for final approval.
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