“Where is France going?” This is the question that will be asked Wednesday, December 15 to Emmanuel Macron, guest of TF1 for a two-hour recorded interview. An important meeting for the President of the Republic, a few days before Christmas and before the start of the French presidency of the European Union, on January 1, 2022. Since the announcement of this river interview, the right-wing opposition and on the left protested against the exposure which the Head of State would benefit from at prime time. Valérie Pécresse, the candidate of the Republicans, thus seized the Superior council of audio-visual (CSA) to ask for a count of this speaking time. Which already exists in practice.
Until January 1, 2022, the start of the electoral period, it is in fact the common rules defined outside the electoral period which are applied by the CSA, a body which checks the accounts made by television and radio channels. Thus, the President of the Republic, his collaborators and the government have a third of the total speaking time of political leaders on television and radio. Notable precision: the speeches of the Head of State on the national political debate are counted, but not the interventions falling under his sovereign functions. When he sets out the measures taken to fight Covid-19, for example, Emmanuel Macron does not see his speaking time regulated by the CSA.
Opposite, all the political parties, whether they are members of the majority or the opposition, share the remaining two-thirds, depending on their representativeness (results obtained in recent elections, number of elected representatives or polls). opinion).
Wednesday evening, on TF1 and LCI, the Head of State should speak on “the way he lived his five-year term. [Il] deliver its vision of the future and answer the questions the French are asking themselves“, details the press release of the channel about this meeting broadcast at 9:05 pm. Themes a priori far removed from the regal aspect of her function. But Valérie Pécresse can be reassured: if he speaks of national policy and defends her balance sheet, Emmanuel Macron should then see his speaking time counted, in accordance with the rule.
This is already what the CSA had recommended after the presidential address of November 9, which had given rise to criticism of La France insoumise. The deputy Manuel Bompard, who castigated with his camp, especially on Twitter, “the arrangements of the candidate-president”, had seized the CSA so that it counts the speaking time of Emmanuel Macron “as a presidential candidate”. In response, the organization explained that a large part of this speech should indeed be counted.
“The portion of the speech delivered likely to be counted as part of the national political debate should represent about three-quarters of the sequence.”
The Superior council of audio-visualon the speech of November 9
What will happen to the speaking time of the tenant of the Elysée Palace from January 1, the date on which the electoral period defined by the CSA opens? “If the President of the Republic is a declared or presumed candidate, all his interventions relating to the political debate are, except in exceptional circumstances, taken into account”, detailed the CSA in its recommendations for the election, presented in early October. Whether Emmanuel Macron declares himself or not, he will be presumed declared in January by the CSA because he “collects significant public support for his candidacy”.
From January 1 to March 28, the president will therefore see his speaking time counted according to the principles of equity, on the basis of the representativeness of the candidates (election score, polls, etc.). And if the formalization of his candidacy has strong political repercussions, it changes absolutely nothing in the eyes of the regulator. The rule will apply in the same way.
Here again, two nuances are to be made on the counting of the presidential word in the campaign. “The interventions which fall within the exercise of its responsibility are not taken into account”, specifies the CSA in its recommendation of October 6. “The same applies to interventions which fall within the exercise of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the exception of those which may, depending on the content and the context, be part of the political debate.” It will be up to the channels which broadcast the presidential speeches to make this distinction in their accounts sent to the CSA.
By entering the CSA, Valérie Pécresse also asks the authority to “restore equality of speaking time” opposition to the head of state. Except that this strict equality only occurs during the electoral campaign itself, from March 28 to April 8. There, each candidate, including Emmanuel Macron if he declares himself, will have the same speaking time, at comparable broadcasting times. This arrangement also applies to airtime, which includes “interventions in support of his candidacy and all the sequences devoted to him, provided that they are not explicitly unfavorable to him”, explains the CSA. Who has not finished being questioned on this highly sensitive subject during the coming months.