Public broadcasting reform: text rejected at the start of debates in the Assembly, setback for Dati

By The New Obs with AFP

Published on June 30, 2025 at 5:52 p.m. , updated on June 30, 2025 at 7:18 p.m.

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To everyone's surprise, the National Rally (RN) joined the left in voting for a motion by the Greens to reject the reform of public broadcasting, proposed by the Minister of Culture. The bill was contested by the affected employees, who were on strike.

A new setback for Rachida Dati. MPs rejected the reform of public broadcasting at the start of the debate on Monday, June 30, the latest twist in a text that has had a chaotic path , rejected by the employees concerned, but which Culture Minister Rachida Dati continues to defend tooth and nail.

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The bill by Senator Laurent Lafon (UDI, centre) plans to create a holding company, France Médias, on 1 January 2026, which would oversee France Télévisions, Radio France and the INA (National Audiovisual Institute), under the authority of a chairman and CEO.

The left-wing deputies, unexpectedly joined by those of the National Rally, voted overwhelmingly (94 votes, including 16 RN against 38) for a motion to reject the ecologist and social group, in the face of the sparse benches of the government coalition.

The text will now be able to return to the Senate for a second reading. The upper house could examine the text as early as next week, according to a parliamentary source. A government source, for his part, assured that "it has not been decided."

When the text was passed through the committee in mid-June, France Médias Monde, the international branch of the French public broadcaster (RFI, France 24), was excluded from the holding company's scope, on the government's proposal. The committee also removed an entire section of the text aimed at "preserving France's audiovisual sovereignty," with provisions concerning sports rights and the development of digital terrestrial radio.

The reform, if successful, would be one of the few trophies the minister could claim, as she aims to wrest Paris City Hall from the left in March 2026. The holding company project is being fiercely opposed by public broadcasting unions. Those at Radio France launched an unlimited strike on Thursday, deeming it "extremely dangerous," both for the future of employees and for the independence of information. At France Télévisions and INA, the unions were on strike this Monday.

Prime Minister François Bayrou gave his support to the reform on Sunday on RTL. In the chamber, Rachida Dati denounced the "violent attacks against her person." "This reform is not Rachida Dati's reform ," she maintained , "it is a reform in the interest of all French people, obviously."

In this parliamentary battle, the mobilization of the government coalition is uncertain, with one MP from the Common Core expressing a certain unease. "I have the impression that we are accelerating towards a wall," said this elected official, who also pointed to Rachida Dati's handling of the issue, which did not contribute to the "calmness of the debates."

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