The controversial plan to merge French public broadcasting companies faced a new setback Tuesday when its parliamentary committee review was suspended following an incident involving Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
Left-wing deputies alleged a "serious" incident between Dati and a civil servant during a break in proceedings took place. The minister's office acknowledged a "heated exchange" but denied any insults, claiming the suspension was politically motivated because the left wasn't securing desired votes.
The suspension came after the government submitted last-minute amendments, which the left criticised but the minister's team defended as a response to "massive obstruction".
The reform bill, already approved in first reading by the Senate in 2023, proposes the creation of a holding company called France Médias to oversee France Télévisions, Radio France, and the National Audiovisual Institute (Ina), with a budget of €4 billion.
Recent amendments would exclude France Médias Monde (RFI, France 24) from the structure.
Dati has argued that without reform, French public broadcasting would inevitably weaken against competition from streaming platforms. She stressed that unlike earlier proposals, this is not a full merger and "will not be done against the interests of employees".
Between 15,000 and 16,000 jobs will be affected.
Cost cutting
The proposed reform, which would create additional subsidiaries to enhance co-operation between radio and television and unify regional networks, prompted strike action this week.
Unions argue the reform poses a serious threat to public service broadcasting, editorial independence, and the quality of programming.
More than 70 percent of journalists at Radio France reportedly went on strike on Tuesday. At France Télévisions, whose president supports the reform, only 9 percent took part according to management.
Hundreds of opponents rallied near the National Assembly – France's lower house.
The holding company structure "looks furiously like a merger" that "promises years of suffering," said Matthieu Darriet – a union rep with Radio France journalists' union. Pierre Mouchel from France Télévisions' hard-left CGT union said that cost-cutting was the primary motivation.
The culture ministry’s budget has been cut by €210 million in 2025 as part of the government's attempts to rein in France's ballooning deficit. Nearly half of those cuts are being made in the public broadcasting sector.
House of Press Cartoons coming in 2027, says French culture chief Dati
Prime Minister François Bayrou, in his policy speech on 14 January, insisted that changes needed to be made to public media services.
"The reform of public broadcasting, for the common good of the French, must be completed," he said.
Right-wing parties also support the reform, but the far-right National Rally backs the complete privatisation of public broadcasting.
The government hopes the reform will finally be adopted by the summer.
