French Superior Audiovisual Council notice no. 2021-03 of October 6, 2021 to audiovisual communication services for the election of the President of the Republic

The French Superior Audiovisual Council,

Having regard to the Constitution, in particular Article 5 ;

Having regard to the Electoral Code;

Having regard to Act n° 62-1292 of November 6, 1962 relating to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage;

Having regard to law n° 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 relating to freedom of communication;

Having regard to decree no. 2001-213 of March 8, 2001, amended, enforcing law no. 62-1292 of November 6, 1962, relating to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage;

Having regard to deliberation no. 2011-1 of the French Superior Audiovisual Council of January 4, 2011 relating to the principle of political plurality in radio and television services during election periods;

Having regard to opinion no. 2021-3 of the Constitutional Council of September 30, 2021;

After deliberation,

Adopts the following notice:

On January 4, 2011, the Council adopted a resolution applicable to radio and television services during election periods. The present notice supplements this decision. It applies to all radio and television services until March 7, 2022, and to all audiovisual communication services, within the meaning of article 2 of the law of September 30, 1986, from the publication of the list of candidates by the Constitutional Council, i.e. March 8, 2022.

It does not apply to services which, exclusively accessible via online public communication, are dedicated to the electoral propaganda of candidates or the political groups which support them.

1. Rules applicable to the treatment of election news

1.1. Periods of application

Pursuant to article L. 47 A of the French Electoral Code, campaigning for the election of the President of the Republic begins on the second Monday preceding the first round of voting and, for the second round, on the day after the first round.

Prior to the election campaign, this notice establishes :

• an initial period running from January 1, 2022 to March 7 ;
• a second period running from March 8, 2022 to the day before the start of the election campaign.

1.2 Notions of candidate and supporter

1° During the first period, the Council defines :

• declared candidate: any person who has publicly stated his or her intention to stand for election, even if subject to conditions;
• presumptive candidate: any person who receives significant public support for his candidacy.

2° During the second period and the electoral campaign for the first round of voting, those persons whose names appear on the list drawn up by the Constitutional Council and, for the second round of voting, the two persons entitled to present themselves, are considered to be candidates.

3° Any person who explicitly summons a vote in favor of a candidate is considered to be a supporter.

1.3 Speeches by candidates and their supporters

1° Speaking time includes all speeches made by a candidate, unless exceptional circumstances mean that they cannot be counted, as well as speeches in support of his or her candidacy.

2° If the President of the Republic is a declared or presumed candidate, all his speeches relating to political debate are taken into account, except in the exceptional circumstances referred to in 1°. Interventions relating to the exercise of his office are not taken into account. The same applies to speeches made in the exercise of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the exception of those which, depending on their content and context, are likely to fall within the scope of political debate.

3° When a declared or presumed candidate or a supporter is entrusted with public functions, his interventions are taken into account if they may have an impact on the ballot, in particular if they contribute to drawing up a balance sheet of past action or if they set out the elements of a program.

4° Remarks critical of one or more candidates are taken into account only if their author explicitly supports another candidate. Such statements are included in the speaking time of the candidate to whom they are made.

5° Airtime includes the speaking time of a candidate, interventions in support of his or her candidacy and all sequences devoted to him or her, insofar as they are not explicitly unfavorable.

Political editorials and commentaries, press reviews, debates involving journalists, experts or other persons, analyses and presentations of opinion polls are counted as airtime when, for most of their duration, they concern a single candidate and are not explicitly unfavorable to him or her.

1.4. Presentation and on-air access on television and radio access services

1° During the first period, broadcasters must ensure that declared or presumed candidates and their supporters have fair presentation and access to the airwaves.

The principle of fairness must be respected throughout this period in terms of both speaking time and airtime. The nature and timing of broadcasts are taken into account.

To assess compliance with the principle of fairness, the Council takes into account, on the one hand, the representativeness of the declared or presumed candidate and, on the other, his or her ability to express the intention to be a candidate.

The candidate's representativeness is based in particular on :

• the results obtained at the most recent elections, i.e. those held since the previous election of the President of the Republic, including this one, by the candidate or the political parties and groupings supporting him or her;
• the number and categories of elected representatives of the political parties and groupings supporting the candidate;
• indications of opinion polls conducted and published in accordance with the law.

The ability to express the intention to stand as a candidate is based in particular on :

• the appointment of a financial agent ;
• organization of public meetings
• field trips and visits;
• public exposure by any means of communication, including social networks, of the candidate's person and the elements of a political program;
• participation in debates.

2° During the second period, in accordance with I bis of article 3 of law no. 62-1292 of November 6, 1962 relating to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage, broadcasters must ensure that candidates and their supporters have fair presentation and access to the airwaves under comparable programming conditions.

The principle of fairness must be respected throughout this period, in terms of both speaking time and airtime.

To assess compliance with this principle, the Council takes into account, on the one hand, the representativeness of the candidate and, on the other, his or her contribution to the electoral debate.

A candidate's representativeness is based in particular on :

• the results obtained in the most recent elections, i.e. those held since the previous election of the President of the Republic, including this one, by the candidate or the political parties and groupings supporting him or her;
• the number and categories of elected representatives of the political parties and groupings supporting the candidate;
• details of opinion polls conducted and published in accordance with the law.

The candidate's contribution to the electoral debate is based in particular on :

• organizing public meetings ;
• field trips and visits;
• public exposure of the candidate's person and the elements of a political program by all means of communication, including social networks;
• participation in debates.

3° During the election campaign, broadcasters must ensure, in accordance with article 3 bis of the aforementioned law no. 62-1292 of November 6, 1962, that speaking times and airtime allocated to candidates and their supporters are equal under comparable programming conditions.

For the second round of voting, the principle of equality must be respected from the Monday following the first round to the Friday inclusive preceding the second round.

4° By comparable programming conditions, the Council means the presentation and access to the airwaves of candidates and their supporters, under the conditions set out in 2° and 3°, within each of the time slots detailed below:

• morning segment: 6am-9am ;
• daytime segment: 9am-6pm ;
• evening segment: 6pm-24pm;
• night segment: 0h-6h.

1.5. Conditions for exposure on on-demand audiovisual media services

1° During the second period, in accordance with I bis of article 3 of law no. 62-1292 of November 6, 1962 relating to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage, publishers shall ensure that candidates and their supporters have fair presentation and access to the programs made available.

To assess compliance with the principle of fairness, which must be ensured throughout this period for both speaking time and airtime, the Council takes into account the factors described in 2° of 1.4.

2° During the election campaign, publishers shall ensure, in accordance with I bis of article 3 of the aforementioned law no. 62-1292 of November 6, 1962, that candidates and their supporters benefit, within the programs made available, from equal speaking time and airtime over the entire period.

2. Rules applicable to the recording of speaking time and airtime

2.1. Recording of speaking time and airtime by providers of radio and television service editors

1° During the first period, the second period and the election campaign, publishers record the speaking and airtime of candidates and their supporters in all their programs.

2° During the first period, the times recorded are cumulative from January 1 to the day before the publication of the list of candidates by the Constitutional Council, i.e. March 7, 2022.

3° During the second period, the times recorded are cumulative from the day of publication of the list of candidates by the Constitutional Council, i.e. March 8, 2022, to the day before the first day of the election campaign.

4° During the electoral campaign preceding the first round of voting, the times recorded are accumulated from the first day of the campaign up to and including the Friday preceding the first round.

5° During the election campaign leading up to the second round of voting, the times recorded are accumulated from the Monday following the first round of voting up to and including the Friday preceding the second round.

6° During the second period and the election campaign, when speaking times and airtime are recorded in a program that spans two time slots, they are counted in the segment in which more than half of the program's duration is shown.

2.2. Transmission and publication of speaking and airtime figures

1° The following publishers transmit electronically to the Council the statement of speaking times and airtime of candidates and their supporters:

• TF1 ;
• France Télévisions (France 2; France 3 for its national and regional programs, France 5, overseas France la 1 ère radio and television)
• Canal + for its free-to-air program;
• M6 ;
• C8
• TMC ;
• BFM TV
• CNews ;
• LCI ;
• franceinfo: ;
• RT France ;
• RMC Découverte ;
• RMC Story
• Radio France (France Inter, France Info, France Culture, France Bleu) ;
• RTL ;
• Europe 1 ;
• RMC ;
• BFM Business ;
• Radio Classique ;
• Sud Radio ;
• France 24 ;
• RFI ;
• TV5 Monde ;
• Euronews.

2° For each period mentioned below, the transmission of speaking times and airtime takes place on the following dates:

The times recorded are cumulated over the entire period concerned on each transmission date.

3° Publishers record and transmit to the Council data relating to speaking time and airtime for candidates and their supporters, in accordance with the conditions, in particular frequency and format, determined by the Council.

4° Other publishers provide the Council, at its request, with all information relating to statements of speaking time and airtime for candidates and their supporters for the period indicated by the Council.

5° Statements sent by publishers are published on the Council's website. As from the publication of the list of candidates, the Council publishes, in accordance with I bis of article 3 of the aforementioned law n° 62-1292 of November 6, 1962, at least once a week, the statement of speaking time and airtime of the candidates and their supporters.

2.3 Retention and transmission of other information

Publishers shall keep audio and video recordings of programmes shown during the period covered by this notice and, where appropriate, communicate them to the Council.

3. Rule applicable to the announcement of results

In accordance with article L. 52-2 of the French Electoral Code, when the Republic forms a single constituency, no election results, partial or final, may be communicated to the public by any means before the shutdown of the last polling station in mainland France.

This notice is applicable throughout France.

It will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.

Paris, October 6, 2021.

For the French Superior Audiovisual Council

Chairman,

R.-O. Maistre