Public broadcasting reform: debates bogged down in the Senate before the parliamentary recess, Dati in the crosshairs

By The New Obs with AFP

Published on July 11, 2025 at 8:59 a.m. , updated July 11, 2025 at 9:37 a.m.

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The reform of public broadcasting is bogged down in the Senate: the left, hostile to the project supported by Rachida Dati , has undertaken to slow down the examination of this text, targeting the "forced passage" of the minister while parliamentary work is to be suspended this Friday evening, July 11 for the summer.

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Repeated suspensions of the session, points of order, motions for preliminary rejection, invective galore... In addition to eight hours of debate in the upper house, where the atmosphere is usually much more civilized, the senators have barely begun examining the first article of this proposed law, which aims to bring together France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the INA into a single holding company.

The three left-wing groups have indeed used numerous points of the Senate's rules, causing a significant slowdown in the debates at the second reading. They are outraged that the government hastily put this text on the Senate agenda at the last minute, after its rejection in the National Assembly at the end of June . "This forced passage does not allow us to examine this text in good conditions," fulminated Socialist Senator Sylvie Robert. "Public broadcasting has a future. It should not be sacrificed by the government's charade," continued the leader of the Communist senators, Cécile Cukierman.

This acceleration of the timetable could allow the executive to calmly consider adoption of the text in the upper house, where it is supported by the right/centre majority, or even final adoption in the autumn, after a new passage before the deputies.

"Obstruction"

But with 300 more amendments to be examined this Friday, there may not be enough time for debate to complete the debate before the weekend... Unless the government or supporters of the reform use certain constitutional or legislative weapons at their disposal to speed up the discussion, something several parliamentary sources have hinted at.

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Representatives of the Senate majority have denounced the left's "obstruction . " "We denounce this climate and the attitude of our colleagues, who have decided to bring back to the Senate the methods of the National Assembly," the head of the centrist group, Hervé Marseille, lamented to AFP.

Senator Laurent Lafon (UDI), who is the author of this bill of senatorial origin, said he was ready, for his part, to sit if necessary until "Saturday, Sunday and the following days" , to bring the debates to a conclusion.

At this stage, however, it is "not planned" for the extraordinary parliamentary session to extend beyond midnight this Friday evening, the date set by the government, a government source told AFP late this afternoon. The government has control over the timetable, which it can, in theory, extend if it wishes.

In the left's sights: the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, who has taken up this reform designed by the Senate and has been arguing for months for "public broadcasting to fight on equal terms to meet the challenges facing it" , in her words before the senators.

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"You are attacking me personally, often in a very shameful manner," the minister hammered home to the left on Thursday. "That's one thing, but we are all responsible for the general interest. It's the only fight that must be waged to preserve public broadcasting," she added, before remaining silent for most of the debate, despite a few exchanges of words and other insults.

All this in a virtually empty chamber, with seats more often filled on the left than on the right, forcing Republicans to request time-consuming electronic public ballots, which allow them to vote for absentees to ensure favorable votes.

This desertion also allowed the left to obtain an hour's suspension of the session, in the absence of the necessary quorum for a vote. The opposition also promised to refer the matter to the Constitutional Council if the bill were to be passed.

Ultimately, only one significant measure was passed in the evening: France Médias Monde, the external branch of the audiovisual sector (France 24, RFI, etc.), was excluded from the future holding company, which was what the government wanted.

Le Nouvel Observateur

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