National Council: Parliament to set SRG fees
Parliament is to be given the authority to set the amount of radio and TV license fees. On Tuesday, the National Council narrowly approved a parliamentary initiative by Natalie Rickli (SVP/ZH) by a vote of 94 to 89, with 3 abstentions.
The development of the level of fees shows that the Federal Council has regularly responded to the SRG's demands, but hardly takes the interests of fee payers into account, Rickli explained her motion. Parliament could take better account of these interests. Rickli, who works professionally for private media companies and is Vice President of "Aktion Medienfreiheit", is also bothered by the fact that SRG is increasingly competing with private providers. Against this backdrop, the "massive" increase in fees over the last 20 years is incomprehensible.
The responsible Telecommunications Committee had still clearly rejected the proposal by 17 votes to 7. Commission spokesperson Jacqueline Fehr (SP/ZH) feared that a shift in competence to parliament would lead to attempts to exert political pressure. It would also endanger the independence of the media and interfere with the SRG's freedom of programming. Fehr also pointed out that 40 out of every 100 francs in fees go to French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. This distribution guarantees the cohesion of the country and cultural diversity. From the SVP's point of view, the SRG offering can be reduced for minorities.
The responsible Telecommunications Committee had still clearly rejected the proposal by 17 votes to 7. Commission spokesperson Jacqueline Fehr (SP/ZH) feared that a shift in competence to parliament would lead to attempts to exert political pressure. It would also endanger the independence of the media and interfere with the SRG's freedom of programming. Fehr also pointed out that 40 out of every 100 francs in fees go to French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. This distribution guarantees the cohesion of the country and cultural diversity. From the SVP's point of view, the SRG offering can be reduced for minorities.
