The French government will end the TV license fee later this year

The French government is preparing to end the TV license fee later this year. Bruno Le Maire, France’s Minister of the Economy, confirmed that the “contribution to public broadcasting will be permanently abolished this year.” The proposal, which was part of recently re-elected president Emmanuel Macron’s election pledges, will see the €138 annual charge applied to households with a television or an equivalent device, scrapped.

This tax brings around €3 billion each year and currently funds France Télévisions (France 2, France 3, France 5), Radio France (France Inter, France Info, France Culture, France Musique), Arte, and international media such as France 24 and RFI. This fee had been collected at the same time as local housing tax, which itself has been tapering off in recent years and is set to end in 2023.

A bill to ratify the decision is set to be introduced in June. According to Le Maire, financing of public broadcasting “will be ensured in compliance with the constitutional objective of pluralism and independence of the media.” Meanwhile, Gabriel Attal, a French government spokesman, added that the “financing of public audiovisual media is guaranteed,” and said France Télévisions would to be privatized.