Federal Council should continue to set television fees
The reception fees for radio and television should not be set by Parliament. The Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF) of the Council of States is in favor of the competence remaining with the Federal Council.
The KVF recommends that the Council of States reject the parliamentary initiative by National Councillor Natalie Rickli (SVP/ZH) by 8 votes to 3 with one abstention, as reported by the Parliamentary Services on Tuesday. In the opinion of the initiator, parliament is better suited to represent the interests of fee payers. This would lead to lower fees. For the majority of the Council of States committee, this would only lead to an "unnecessary politicization of the question of fees and programming". This could jeopardize the constitutional mandate, namely the promotion of the formation of political opinion and will and cultural diversity in all parts of the country.
At its meeting, the KVF spoke out in favor of radio and television fees being levied in future, as proposed by the Federal Council in a report, irrespective of ownership of a receiver. So far, however, the KVF of the Council of States has only signaled its agreement in principle. It wants to define even more precisely who should be exempt from the fees. To this end, it wants to revise the text of the motion that was approved by the National Council's sister committee.
At its meeting, the KVF spoke out in favor of radio and television fees being levied in future, as proposed by the Federal Council in a report, irrespective of ownership of a receiver. So far, however, the KVF of the Council of States has only signaled its agreement in principle. It wants to define even more precisely who should be exempt from the fees. To this end, it wants to revise the text of the motion that was approved by the National Council's sister committee.
