Ladies and gentlemen of the press,
Dear friends,
I am pleased to welcome you today to the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
It is always a pleasure to meet you, who embody the French press in all its diversity. That is why I want to put this third Publishers' Conference under the sign of listening and exchange. So you will have an opportunity this morning to express your concerns, and hopefully your reasons for satisfaction.
I am aware that the situation of the print media in France remains difficult.
In this context, you continue to innovate and seek new channels of growth, particularly on the Internet. The State supports you with determination in this process.
This is shown by the record of aid to the press paid in 2015, which we now publish in the traditional way at this conference. The Director General of Media and Cultural Industries will give you more details in a few minutes, but I would like to point out that this year the department has chosen to strengthen the transparency and precision of the data that is made public.
The determination of the State to support you is reflected not only in the aid paid in 2015 but also in the draft finance law for 2017. Indeed, aid to the press will increase by €5 million next year.
This growing 2017 budget focuses on three priorities:
- increased support for Agence France-Presse in the difficult context of the information sector as a whole,
- a strong gesture in favour of newspaper dealers, notably through a 60% increase in the credits for aid for their modernization and, above all, the compulsory exemption of CET, which represents a State contribution of more than €7 million.
- the creation of a new fund to support the emergence and innovation of the press, already operational, since the first emerging grants will be awarded and the first calls for projects for start-up incubation programmes will be launched this year, which I am delighted about. The fund will be endowed with €5 million in full year.
The State also endeavours to adapt aid to the press to the needs of publishers. The Strategic Press Development Fund has been reformed, notably through an increase in its subsidy rates and an increase in eligible expenditure.
In addition, support for the regional weekly press has been open to all periodicities, up to quarterly, thus reinforcing support for media pluralism not only at national level but also at local level.
But the State is also very attentive to the major stakes that constitute the distribution and dissemination of the press, be it subscriptions or sales by issue.
With respect to the routing of subscriptions by mail, I have chosen, as you know, a responsible and fair approach.
- For the sake of clarity and coherence in public policy, we have abandoned the creation of new categories of press, other than the political and general press.
- I also insisted on giving you visibility, both for your companies and for the post office, on a sustainable evolution of postal rates until 2020. Again, this is the lowest tariff increase since 1997.
- I have also obtained that the compensation for the residual moratorium for the IPG press is not borne by the publishers.
- But the overall balance of this reform of postal tariffs also called, I would like to reaffirm today, a measure of fairness: all supplements to IPG titles will be smoothed out over four years, their postal rates align with those of magazines with similar content. Regular supplements, with a maximum weekly frequency, may apply to the CPPAP for their IPG qualification if their content meets the definition of this press category. We’ll get back to you on that, I think.
Without ignoring the economic impact of this measure on the securities concerned, I want to say that it is above all a matter of preserving the coherence of our policy based on the distinction of the IPG. The choice not to create new categories within the press, the strong commitment on the trajectory of postal rates of the IPG press, as well as other measures such as support for portage or the European approach of creating a neighbouring right for press publishers, are additional testimonies of this coherence.
With regard to portage assistance, I want to stress that the favourable decisions we have made in favour of maintaining the 90% hold in 2016. already implemented in 2014 and 2015 and the maintenance of the financial envelope in 2017 could only be obtained within the framework of an overall balance including postal rates. It is not possible to reconsider this decision without questioning the whole structure.
Of course, the renewal of the “hold” in 2016 does not exempt us from a more comprehensive reflection for the future. This is why the Government has decided to entrust a joint mission to the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs and the General Inspectorate of Finance, which will have to make recommendations on possible developments in portage assistance. You will be invited to participate in the mission that will deliver its conclusions before the end of the year.
With regard to the sale by issue and to press messengers, I would like to reiterate once again the need for all actors to assume their responsibilities, in accordance with the principle of solidarity of the profession which is the foundation of this system, for pragmatism and efficiency.
This applies, of course, to the scales of financing of couriers by publishers' cooperatives, which must make it possible to cover costs fairly, but it also applies to new economies which the sector must be able to implement quickly. I am thinking in particular of structuring approaches such as the common information system that the State has supported.
Finally, still in the field of sales by issue, I wish to reiterate the attachment of the Governmental press broadcasters. Newspaper merchants are now experiencing serious difficulties, but they are essential to freedom of expression and the circulation of ideas; their network must maintain a strong territorial network.
That is why I am delighted that the plan to upgrade their remuneration will see its last phase implemented in 2017, as recently announced by the Conseil supérieur des messageries de presse and the Autorité de régulation de la distribution de la presse. I also greet their two presidents, Roch-Olivier MAISTRE for the ARDP and Jean-Pierre ROGER for the CSMP, for their resolute action at the head of these two institutions.
At the same time, an ambitious public support plan for the newspaper dealer network will be fully implemented from the beginning of 2017. This plan will have 3 components:
- Firstly, the conditions for access to modernisation aid are relaxed in order to allow more broadcasters to modernise their working tools. To finance this measure, the aid budget will increase from €3.6m in 2016 to €6m in 2017. In fact, the measure is effective immediately and we will be able to apply this new approach to all the new requests we receive this year.
- Secondly, in order to promote the creation and resumption of press sales points, the system of repayable advances to press companies managed by the Institute for Financing Cinema and Cultural Industries (IFCIC), will now be extended to press broadcasters.
- Thirdly, the exemption from the territorial economic contribution for specialist and independent press broadcasters which was hitherto optional will become systematic. This tax component will represent State support of approximately €7.5 million. This is a particularly structuring measure for the sector and it is a great victory to have obtained this tax advantage.
However, as you know, these direct aids to press companies cannot go without conditionality.
That is the whole purpose of the framework agreements, which I hope will be exemplary. In most cases, the agreements will be based on commitments that are not only the application of the law but also the implementation of collective commitments that your representatives have signed, and will be adapted to the specificities and strategy of each company.
From this point of view, the comments made by your representative unions were well taken. It is not a question of the public authority interfering in the content or in the day-to-day management of companies. On the other hand, it is important to put the measure back where there have been excesses, for example the payment periods for photojournalists or news agencies, the weakest links in the information collection chain. It is also a matter of encouraging companies to take steps towards progress on several issues of collective interest.
Parliamentarians on all sides have made a clear and strong request on this issue. We must collectively honour it. That is why I hope that the negotiation of these agreements with each press group will be completed by the end of 2016.
I would also like to say a word about the proposal we support for a neighbouring right for press publishers, informed by the work of Laurence Franceschini. This right will be a real step forward for press publishers by allowing them to better make their voice heard against the giants of the net and those who plunder their content without authorization.
This right being related to copyright, its creation must not be at the expense of authors, here journalists. It is essential that this new sharing of value for publishers results in a redistribution in favour of journalists. The work begins only at European level and your mobilisation and that of your relays in the various countries at each stage of the process, with the Commission, or the European Parliament, is essential to the success of this undertaking.
At European level, I also wanted to tell you that Commissioner Moscovici has just announced that he will be tabling his text amending the VAT directive very soon. Finally, this text will enable the Member States to apply the reduced VAT rates to e-books or the online press, in the same way as to printed materials. This decision is likely to strengthen the legal security of professionals in the sector at European level since, as you know, France has anticipated this measure in its national legislation. However, such an amendment to the VAT Directive requires a unanimous vote. That is why the mobilization of professionals and Member States on this issue is essential.
Finally, I wanted to tell you this morning, since all forms of the press have been brought together, that I am committed to defending press freedom at a time when the founding texts of this freedom are being called into question. Recently in the Senate, several amendments to the Bill on Equality and Citizenship have called into question certain protective mechanisms established by the Act of 29 July 1881. If, as the Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights rightly recalls, the free communication of thoughts and opinions is “one of the most precious human rights”, this must be reflected in the procedural law specific to the press. Although some adaptations of the law are sometimes necessary, in particular to combat the flood of insult or racist or anti-religious hatred on the internet, I assure you of the Government’s full commitment to support the preservation of the founding balances of press law.
Thank you.