Avis sur le projet de décret relatif à la constitution du Conseil consultatif des programmes créé auprès de la société France Télévision

The French Superior Audiovisual Council has been asked to give its opinion on a draft decree to implement article 46 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, as amended, concerning the constitution of the Program Advisory Board set up by France Télévision.

It makes the following observations:
- Under the provisions of article 1 of the draft decree, the members of the Program Advisory Board are chosen by lot by the audiovisuel licence fee department from among those liable to pay the licence fee for the use of television receivers.
The French Superior Audiovisual Council considers that this procedure, which results from the provisions of the aforementioned article 46 of the law of September 30, 1986, does not guarantee satisfactory representativeness. Drawing members by lot from among licence fee payers could lead to over-representation of certain categories of viewers, to the detriment of youngsters in any case.
In order to improve the representativeness of the Program Advisory Council, the French Superior Audiovisual Council believes it is possible to respect the principle of drawing lots as intended by the legislator, by modifying it in two ways:
- to ensure a better breakdown by age segment, the decree could allow the person liable for the licence fee to be represented by another member of his or her household;
- to ensure better geographical representation, the drawing of lots could be organized in each regional tax collection center, in proportion to the number of taxpayers.
- Article 2 of the draft decree, which lays down the procedures for obtaining the consent of the persons summoned to make up the Program Advisory Board, makes provision for the Minister responsible for communication to disqualify "any person whose direct interest, particularly in terms of his or her professional or personal situation, would appear likely to prejudice the proper exercise of the tasks entrusted to the Advisory Board".
The French Superior Audiovisual Council believes that the conditions under which members may be challenged should be more clearly defined, to avoid any suspicion of arbitrariness. In particular, the notion of "direct interest" should be clarified.
- Article 3 of the draft decree specifies that, should a member need to be replaced, the new member is appointed "for the duration of the current term of office". While the law sets this term at three years, the decree makes no mention of it. The Council proposes that, for the sake of clarity, this omission be rectified.
- The French Superior Audiovisual Council notes that the Program Advisory Council, summoned to act as a "listening body representing viewers", will cohabit with the mediators of the France Télévision Group companies, who are also responsible for acting as intermediaries between these companies and viewers. He believes that the effectiveness of each of these bodies could be optimized if they worked together. This could be achieved by appointing one of the mediators to the post of secretary to the Advisory Board, as provided for in the draft decree approving the amendments to Decree no. 2000-846 of August 31, 2000, approving the bylaws of France Télévision.
- Finally, the French Superior Audiovisual Council considers it desirable that the work of the Program Advisory Council be the subject of an annual report, which would be forwarded to the members of France Télévision's Board of Directors and to the French Superior Audiovisual Council.