Paris (AFP)
The majority-right Senate adopted Wednesday a show of hands at first reading the reform of the distribution of the press, defended as "indispensable" by the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, but fought by the CGT du Livre.
The bill reforming the Bichet law of April 2, 1947, which has been organizing press distribution for more than 70 years, was adopted with the LR, centrist, RDSE radical majority, LREM and Independents votes. The communist-majority ECRC voted against and the PS abstained. It must now be submitted to the National Assembly.
In the midst of the serious crisis of the distributor Presstalis, the text provides in particular to open to new players this sector that currently share Presstalis and the Messageries lyonnaises de presse (MLP) from 1 January 2023.
It gives newspaper retailers more flexibility in choosing the titles they distribute (outside the political and general information press), in order to "improve their commercial attractiveness," according to the minister.
"More than 6,000 points of sale closed between 2011 and 2018," he said.
On the regulatory side, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (Arcep) will oversee the sector (including digital) in place of the two current bodies (CSMP and ARDP).
"This is a balanced text," argued the minister, assuring that he "preserves the essential principles of the Bichet law": "the compulsory cooperative principle", "the absolute right to the distribution of all political and general information headlines ", and" access to a wide variety of publications throughout the country ".
He "extends the principles of the Bichet law to digital broadcasting," he said, "imposing transparency requirements on online news aggregators on their choice to highlight information content."
For the rapporteur Michel Laugier (centrist), "in the face of the crisis of the sale by number, the persistent threats on Presstalis", an evolution of the distribution is today necessary.
Senators have "specified" and "secured" the various measures, he said. "We can continue to progress," however judged Françoise Laborde (RDSE).
Opposed to this project, the CGT du Livre had called for a 24-hour strike, preventing the publication of national dailies on Wednesday.
The CRCE group echoed this opposition, Pierre Laurent expressing "the greatest concern about the devastating effect in terms of pluralism of the application of such a project".
The question of Presstalis was at the heart of the debate, David Assouline (PS) insisting on obtaining the guarantee "that Presstalis will not be a victim of this bill". He made "a mixed assessment" of the provisions of the text, despite "substantial improvements" made by the Senate.
? 2019 AFP