Something unprecedented is happening in France, and it may even be beneficial if this commission completes its investigation… where the neutrality of the public service media will be at stake.
In France, an exceptional parliamentary commission of inquiry is about to begin. Its objective is to verify the neutrality, operation, and financing of the public audiovisual sector, that is, the television channels and radio stations funded by the State. This initiative is unusual and could be seen as a model for all countries wishing to join the European Union, in order to ensure that public media are impartial and transparent.
The commission was initiated by Éric Ciotti, a French deputy representing the Alpes-Maritimes region and president of the Union of the Right for the Republic, a conservative political party. His role is to oversee parliamentary work and to monitor the functioning of public institutions. The commission is examining whether public television channels and radio stations respect pluralism, meaning the fair representation of all political opinions, and whether their funding, which comes mainly from taxes and a levy called the audiovisual licence fee, is used properly.
Two public institutions are particularly concerned. France Télévisions is the group responsible for the main French public television channels, such as France 2 and France 3. Radio France is the group that oversees the main public radio stations, such as France Inter, France Culture, and Franceinfo. Delphine Ernotte has been the president of France Télévisions since 2015 and manages all the group’s channels. Sibyle Veil has been the president of Radio France since 2020 and supervises all the public radio stations funded by the State.
Some deputies, such as Éric Ciotti, consider that the annual budget of four billion euros for these institutions is too high and mention the possibility of partial privatization. The hearings of Ms. Ernotte and Ms. Veil are scheduled in the coming weeks and should pay particular attention to questions regarding the independence and neutrality of these public media.
The Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication, abbreviated Arcom, is also at the heart of the inquiry. Arcom is an independent institution created in 2022 to supervise the media, by merging two previous bodies. The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, or CSA, was responsible for overseeing television and radio, and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services, or ARCEP, supervised telecommunications and postal services. Arcom must ensure that the media respect the plurality of opinions and the rigor of information.
Martin Ajdari is the president of Arcom. A former advisor to French ministers, he heads this institution whose role is to guarantee that public and private media broadcast impartial and balanced information. He has entrusted Bruno Lasserre, former president of the Competition Authority, with a mission to verify the impartiality of the public audiovisual service. The Competition Authority is a body responsible for ensuring that companies comply with economic rules and that competition is fair.
Charles Alloncle, a deputy representing the Hérault region and rapporteur of the commission, expresses doubts about the neutrality of the public media. He relies on a study carried out by the Thomas More think tank, a liberal-conservative research institute, which observed that the majority of on-air contributors on France 2, France 5, Franceinfo, France Culture, and France Inter belonged to the left or center-left, which, according to some deputies, could distort pluralism.
The commission is composed of thirty-one deputies from different parties. Jérémie Patrier-Leitus, a member of the Horizons party, presides over the commission and represents the Calvados region. Philippe Ballard, a deputy from the Rassemblement national and former journalist, represents the far right. Céline Calvez, a deputy from the Renaissance party, is close to President Emmanuel Macron. Aurélien Saintoul, a deputy from La France insoumise, defends positions of the radical left. Emmanuel Grégoire, from the Socialist Party, and Sophie Taillé-Polian, from the ecologist and social group, also take part in the hearings. All of them will have to question the leaders of the audiovisual sector to assess the neutrality, impartiality, and pluralism of the public media.
The commission also plans to hear former officials of the audiovisual sector. Olivier Schrameck was president of the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, the former regulatory authority. Roch-Olivier Maistre succeeded him. These hearings aim to understand the history of appointments to the leadership of France Télévisions, including the interventions of François Hollande, President of the French Republic from 2012 to 2017.
This investigation, which could last several months, is an example of how a country can monitor its public media to guarantee their independence. For an international audience and for all countries applying to join the European Union, imposing this type of verification could be an essential condition to ensure that the public audiovisual sector respects the principles of neutrality and pluralism that are indispensable to a healthy democracy.
*Author is former member of the UN senior staff